Confederate flag: Thousands gather to witness historical moment unthinkable just weeks ago

The campaign to remove the flag gathered pace in the aftermath of the Charleston church shooting

An honor guard from the South Carolina Highway patrol removes the Confederate battle flag from the Capitol grounds in Columbia (AP)

Thousands of people descended on the South Carolina State House Friday morning to witness a piece of history that seemed unthinkable mere weeks ago.

The Confederate flag had been flying in Columbia, South Carolina for more than 50 years, but it took less than 30 seconds for the flag to be removed from its perch on the State House grounds.

The flag's political divisiveness - the primary reason removing it has been so contentious - was clear on the Capitol grounds. A few citizens brought their own Confederate flags, to make a statement on Southern heritage.

But the cheers far outweighed the jeers as the Confederate flag was lowered Friday, to be taken to its permanent home at the state's Confederate relics museum.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley called for a dignified removal ceremony and that is what she got, even if it started a few minutes late.

"Fifty years and five minutes, take it down," yelled someone toward the back of the crowd in reference to the ceremony not starting at 10 am sharp.

Those fifty-some years of years of flying the Confederate flag at the State House came to a swift head in the last few weeks.

Calls for the flag's removal grew after the massacre at a Charleston church that left nine black parishioners dead. Dylann Roof, a white man, has confessed to the shooting.

After the shooting, Mr Roof, who has been charged with the nine murders, surfaced in a number of photos displaying the Confederate flag as a symbol of racist hate.

That symbol will no longer fly on the ground of the State House and will be moved to the state’s Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum just down the street.

The flag was removed after a flurry of legislative activity in South Carolina this week that resulted in a huge win for opponents of the banner.

The state Senate passed a bill calling for the removal of the Confederate flag on Tuesday and the House followed suit early Thursday morning.

Governor Nikki Haley signed the bill on Thursday afternoon and held the lowering ceremony Friday morning at the State House.

Ms Haley signed the bill with nine pens, in honor of the nine people who were slain last month in Charleston, a massacre that catalysed the Confederate flag's removal.

"May we never forget the actions that those people took to get us to this point today," the governor said on Thursday.

The Confederate flag was flown on top of the State House dome starting in the early 1960s, in protest of the growing civil-rights movement. In 2000, it was moved to a flagpole in front of the House.

Supporters of the flag claim it represents Southern pride and heritage, while opponents say it's a painful reminder of the South's racist past.

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