The connection of the Confederate Battle Flag with the murders of nine church members in South Carolina has prompted the National Park Service to end sales of the flag in gift shops and bookstores located inside parks.

“We strive to tell the complete story of America,” Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said of the agency’s reputation for telling difficult parts of our history. “All sales items in parks are evaluated based on educational value and their connection to the park. Any stand-alone depictions of Confederate flags have no place in park stores.”

In a news release the director said the murders of nine church members at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, which is near Fort Sumter National Monument, galvanized a national discussion that includes symbols and relics from our nation’s past such as the Confederate Battle Flag. A manifesto linked to the suspect in the case included photos of himself with versions of the Confederate flag. 

“As that discussion spread across the country,” Director Jarvis said, “one of our largest cooperating associations, Eastern National, began to voluntarily remove from the park stores that it manages any items that depict a Confederate flag as its primary feature. I’ve asked other cooperating associations, partners and concession providers to withdraw from sale items that solely depict a Confederate flag.”

In the telling of the historical story, Confederate flags have a place in books, exhibits, reenactments, and interpretive programs, the Park Service said. Books, DVDs, and other educational and interpretive media where the Confederate flag image is depicted in its historical context may remain as sales items as long as the image cannot be physically detached. Confederate flags include the Stainless Banner, the Third National Confederate Flag, and the Confederate Battle Flag.