Confederate flag will be removed from Capitol in South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — All that's needed now is Gov. Nikki Haley's promised signature and the Confederate flag that's been flying on the grounds of the South Carolina Capitol will come down.

The state House voted early Thursday morning to bring the banner down after 13 hours of contentious, emotional debate.

Republican Rep. Jenny Horne reminded her colleagues she was a descendent of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, then scolded members of her party for stalling, saying a delay would add "insult to injury" for the families of the nine people gunned down last month in a Charleston church.

The governor promised to sign it quickly, but didn't say exactly when. That's important, because the bill requires the flag be taken down within 24 hours of her pen hitting the paper and shipped to the Confederate Relic Room.

After the Civil War, the flag was first flown over the dome of South Carolina's Capitol in 1961 to protest the civil rights movement. It was moved to a pole on the Statehouse's front lawn in 2000.

Cox Media Group