Currently, in the American south it's very common to see an all-black version of the American flag. It is most often seen as a sticker on the back of a pickup truck, but also appears as patches and occasionally an actual flag; it fills much the same role as the Don't tread on me flag or the Punisher skull 'flag'.

The myth is that this flag was flown by the Confederate army during the American Civil War; as you might expect, the Confederates did not actually fly the American flag, in any colors.

The flag most likely comes form the US Army Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP), originally codenamed Scorpion W2; when used by someone in the US Army, this is often referred to as the Scorpion Flag. This is camouflage, and is used when you don't want to stand out; hence a muted grey, green, and black flag.

It was also influenced by the Tea Party's 'recession flag', a black and white flag (white stars on a black background, black and white stripes) which is often the basis for the thin blue line flags and thier descendants.

However, the all-black version is generally said to be a 'give no quarter' flag; this comes from the black pirate flag, indicating that the pirates will kill anyone who resists. However, most people displaying this flag do not think of themselves as modern-day pirates, but as people willing to protect American values, even if it means fighting their neighbors in a non-official capacity.

Because there is no official movement that uses the all-black American flag as its symbol, the flag can basically mean whatever you want it to mean. However, I would caution against wearing a pirate version of the American flag if you don't want to be treated as a criminal.


Some notes on flags that aren't this: a true black flag is something different, and most black American flags make a point of being clearly the American flag, often by making the stars and stripes glossy to stand out more. The black and light grey flag is a symbol of the Million Man March held in 1995. The African-American Flag is black and red stripes with black stars on a green background, or a number of alternate flags that usually don't reference the stars and stripes.