Confederate Flag Supporters Rev Opposition to Harley-Davidson's Ban. (Originated from The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.)

Dec. 30--Confederate battle flag supporters are raising the war cry against Harley-Davidson Inc. Five months ago, the Milwaukee motorcycle company banned the rebel banner from Harley T-shirts and other products it licenses. Now the same group that brought a pro-flag march to Myrtle Beach last summer has started a petition drive trying to get Harley to change its mind.

"It's an attempt to eradicate the symbols of the South," said William Carter of Saluda, state chairman of the the pro-flag Council of Conservative Citizens, said, a pro-flag group, of the new Harley policy. "These companies that want to appear politically correct are going to find that they don't sell many motorcycles to liberals."

The group's ire was sparked by efforts to remove the battle flag from the S.C. Statehouse dome and fueled by the continuing national debate about Confederate symbols. Their anger may soon extend to Dixie Youth Baseball Inc. and Myrtle Beach's Dixie Stampede country music dinner attraction, Carter said. Both have removed the battle flag from their logos.

Carter wants to present the petitions to Harley officials during biker weekend, May 19 and 20. Exactly how that presentation would be made is still being worked out.

But Harley-Davidson said the signatures are not going to change its decision.

"The decision is by no means a sign of disrespect for the history of the South or the people of the South," said Mark Barbato, a Harley-Davidson spokesman. "It's more a question of hesitancy to offend people who may consider the flag a symbol of bigotry or racism."

A July article in Milwaukee newspaper article noting the new Harley policy said that a black man from Wisconsin who grew up in the segregated south had complained about Harley accessories sporting the rebel banner. A spokesman told the newspaper that a few others had complained.