PHIL ANSELMO On Confederate Flag Imagery: “I Disavow The F*ckin’ Flag”

Pantera hasn’t been shy about using the Confederate flag in their merch, on stage, in the layout to 1996’s The Great Southern Trendkill, and even on their instruments throughout the years. Though during a show in Sofia, Bulgaria on May 26, frontman Phil Anselmo publicly disavowed the use of the flag.

Before playing “Cowboys From Hell” as the closer to the show, Anselmo addressed someone holding up an unknown sign in the crowd by saying “Sofia, I gotta say this: incredible audience. One more thing: there’s a person over here holding up this sign trying to ruin the fuckin’ show. I disavow, I disavow the fuckin’ flag. I’m sorry. It’s ridiculous, man. Keep politics out of shit. It’s boring.”

Blabbermouth also brought up an interesting 2016 interview from Rolling Stone, where both Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown addressed the usage of the flag on The Great Southern Trendkill.

“If we’re really going to get into commentary here, yes, I see the projected Confederate flags,” said Anselmo. “Well, for one, I’ve always said, ‘Flags don’t mean a damn thing to me.’ Two, by using the Confederate flag, despite what anyone says – and I don’t give a shit, because no matter what I say, I’m damned if I do, damned if I don’t – but the truth of it all is, it was about as innocent as innocent could be.

“We weren’t confessing to any clandestine power of structure or however you assholes wanna put it these days. I think we used the Confederate flag merely because of Lynyrd Skynyrd. We had learned from people before us. And it was never about anything other than that.

“The Confederate flag is on the back cover of [1996’s] The Great Southern Trendkill. That was the ‘Southern’ part of it,” added Brown. “There were still states that had that on their state flags. Nowadays it’s forbidden to use it. It’s not so politically correct. But it had nothing to do with racism. None of us were like that. It was just a tie-in to the artwork on the back cover.

“Even back then, I said, ‘This is not the way to go.’ Lynyrd Skynyrd used one for years and still do. Now people confuse it with racism and hatred. That’s not what this band is about at all; quite the opposite. But it’s the only thing I would say in the P.C. days that I have any regrets about.”