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closeA look at the political battles over the Confederate flag flying at the State House in Columbia. It was removed eight years ago this month:
1962
With little fanfare, lawmakers resolve to fly the Confederate flag over the State House dome to recognize the Civil War centennial.
1983
A House resolution to take the flag down fails on a 52-44 vote.
1993
Attorney General Travis Medlock rules that no law mandates that the flag must fly over the State House.
1994
NAACP says it will organize national economic sanctions against South Carolina unless the flag is removed.
1996
Then-Gov. David Beasley proposes moving the flag to a monument on the State House grounds.
1997
In Columbia, 500 religious leaders march in support of moving the flag.
1998
Democrat Jim Hodges unseats Beasley, winning votes of many flag supporters who felt Beasley betrayed them.
1999
The national NAACP calls for tourists to boycott South Carolina until the flag is removed.
2000
Jan. 8: Six thousand people demonstrate outside the State House in support of the flag.
Jan. 18: More than 46,000 people march to the State House to demand its removal; President Clinton says the flag should come down.
Jan. 20: In his State of the State address, Hodges says the flag should be taken down.
April 7: Charleston Mayor Joe Riley concludes a 120-mile, five-day anti-flag walk to the Capitol.
April 13: Senate votes to remove the flag from the State House dome and place a square version on a pole behind the Confederate soldier's monument at Main and Gervais streets. A month later, the House concurs.
May 23: Hodges signs the law removing the flag from the State House dome.
July 1: Two Citadel cadets lower the Confederate flag from the State House dome at noon. Flags also are removed from the House and Senate chambers. The new flag is placed on a flagpole at the Confederate soldier's monument, where it still flies.
2001
The NCAA announced a two-year moratorium on awarding predetermined postseason events to South Carolina sites. Its ban has continued since.
2002
More than 100 NAACP protesters marched to the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, site of the previously scheduled NCAA regional basketball tournament. They were confronted by about 20 flag supporters.
2003-2004
Ahead of the Feb. 3, 2004, presidential primary, Democratic candidates tried to walk a political tightrope on the flag issue, with some choosing to honor the NAACP boycott by staying in private homes instead of S.C. hotels. Most stopped short of not spending any money here.
2005
The Southeastern Conference brought its women's basketball tournament to Greenville after another site outside the state backed out. It was the first major college event held at a predetermined site in the state in three years.
2006
The national NAACP, under the leadership of new president Bruce Gordon, considers rescinding the economic boycott. The group ultimately let the boycott stand.
2007
U.S. Sens. Joseph Biden of Delaware and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, campaigning at Martin Luther King Jr. holiday events in South Carolina, call for the removal of the flag from the State House grounds.
2008
The NAACP re-ups its commitment to an economic boycott of the state, calling on Hollywood to cut off the state's burgeoning film-making industry. Some lawmakers who support flying the flag on State House grounds question the NAACP's focus on South Carolina, when several other states fly some version of the Confederate flag at their capitols.
SOURCES: The (Columbia) State, The Associated Press
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