South Carolina governor: Confederate flag comes down Friday

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Saying South Carolina's history has forever changed, Gov. Nikki Haley signed a bill today to relegate the Confederate flag to the state's "relic room," more than 50 years after the rebel banner began flying at the Statehouse to protest the civil rights movement.

Compelled to act by the slaughter of nine African-Americans at a church Bible study, Gov. Nikki Haley praised lawmakers for acknowledging that the long-celebrated symbol is too painful and divisive to keep promoting.

"The Confederate flag is coming off the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse," Haley said before signing the bill. "We will bring it down with dignity and we will make sure it is stored in its rightful place."

Police then surrounded the rebel flag with barricades and rope, a siege of sorts that will end Friday after the banner is furled for the last time at a 10 a.m. ceremony.

South Carolina's leaders first flew the battle flag over the Statehouse dome in 1961 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. It remained there to represent official opposition to the civil rights movement.

Mass protests against the flag decades later led to a compromise in 2000 with lawmakers who insisted that it symbolized Southern heritage and states' rights. They agreed then to move it to a 30-foot pole next to a Confederate monument out front.