The Masonic Symbols

• The belief in Masonic influence is due to the flag's inclusion of the five-point star, which according to Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry represents the Five Points of Fellowship. However, in the confederate flag, the star simply represents a confederate state.
  
  

Designing the Confederate Flag(s)

• Over time, there were three flag designs; two containing the traditional Southern Cross, and all three containing five-point stars. In turn, this fueled the belief in hidden Masonic symbolism.
  
  

The Stars and Bars

• The first confederate flag was designed to distinguish the Confederacy from the Union. Ultimately, the design was too similar to the Union's Stars and Stripes, making it hard to distinguish in battle.
  
  

The Stainless Banner

• General P.G.T Beauregard, a Mason and Knight Templar, commissioned the design of the traditional Southern Cross, a blue "X," lined with white five-point stars, on a red background. Beauregard's Southern Cross appears in the upper-left corner of this otherwise plain white flag.
  
  

The Last Confederate Flag

• This version sported the same design as the Stainless Banner, except a vertical red stripe was placed on the right side to prevent it from being mistaken as a white flag of surrender.