Bill,
It is my opinion, based on my belief that flags are extensions of the soul and what I feel is a developed understanding of symbolism, that the "Hardee" flag is an Irish symbol of the struggle of freedom against tyranny. I mentioned this to a degree in my "Flags of Civil War Alabama," and am dealing with it in a little more detail in my upcoming work.
In Irish history, the full moon is a symbol of a unified Ireland. The Rebellion of 1798 (only sixty years prior to the our similar war and only 17 years prior to Hardee's birth), one of the last and most organized (by Irish standards) is remembered as the Full Moon Rebellion and is remembered in the song "By the Rising of the Moon." Hardee, Buckner, and especially Cleburne would have known full well, from their parents, uncles, and grandparents, the story of this last great fight for freedom, and I believe the full moon was as natural as grass and rain to the designers of this flag. Cleburne's division successfully resisted two general orders from two separate generals to lay down their flags for the more conventional Southern cross of St. Andrew. They refused, threatened mutiny, and wound up carrying these beloved banners through the last hurrah of Cleburne's legendary division. I can not believe that degree of devotion could be maintained for a washed out Kentucky flag.

Glenn