PowerPoint Show by Andrew

♫ Turn on Speakers

Almost 1,000 men, women and children gathered in Montgomery, Alabama, to defend the flag.

'Ride with Pride' event was held in Tampa Bay, Florida, on Friday with at least 300 attendees.

They claimed symbol was celebration of Southern heritage and distinct from history of racism and oppression.

Symbol has been removed from State capitols since Confederate enthusiast Dylann Roof killed nine in Charleston.

President Obama condemned the flag Friday as 'a reminder of systemic oppression and racial.

Families swamped Montgomery, Alabama, on Saturday brandishing the controversial Confederate flag.

This mother, Jamie Lewis, brought her six-month-old son to the capitol building in South Carolina to defend the banner on Saturday amid national outcry.

Supporters gather for a rally to protest the removal of Confederate flags from the Confederate Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.

These siblings listen to speakers who defended the history of the flag, which has been branded racist.

This demonstrator draped a Confederate flag over his shoulders as he chanted about the virtues of the symbol.

One of the speakers said the flag commemorates his non-slave-owning ancestors who died in the Civil War.

Seven-year-old Holli Crawford joined her father Hugh and a group of demonstrators on the grounds of the South Carolina State House.

Black activist Bree Newsome scaled the pole at South Carolina's Capitol and took down the Confederate flag.

Newsome and a male ally who had entered the wrought-iron fence surrounding the flag were arrested.

Madison Clark holds a sign while protesting the Confederate flag at Alabama State Capitol building during a Confederate flag rally.

A group of at least 300 people in Tampa Bay, Florida, went on a rally waving hundreds of controversial Confederate battle flags.

Fans of the rebel banner stuck flags on their vehicles and wore defiant t-shirts, such as the one pictured above.

Those who went on the rally said they were trying to commemorate their cultural heritage and not flame racial tensions.

Lawmakers in southern states including Alabama and South Carolina have decided to remove the flag from state government buildings.

This dog was also part of the Dixieland celebration, which came on the same day as President Obama condemned the flag.

  Dennis Leasure, dressed in biker gear, is pictured above before the rally started, with his pet dog, Dixie Poo.

The Confederate battle banner was used sporadically during the Civil War, but has become an enduring symbol of the rebel South.

  Zachery Campbell, above, is pictured posing in his pickup truck with a large Confederate flag.

  This southern driver's flag also displayed his enthusiasm for firearms.

Some of the attendees spoke about how the flag should not symbolize racism and oppression, but innocuously celebrate the South.

Destiny Mooneyham, 18, is pictured above with Dennis Wiles, before the 'Ride for Pride' event.

This biker adorned his Harley Davidson with a confederate flag before heading out with some 300 other vehicles.