1.   As they were placed into the hole, the flags were removed.

2.   Black leaders gathered near the Capitol Wednesday to say nothing short of removing the flag would satisfy them.

3.   A huge majority of South Carolinians want the Confederate flag removed.

4.   A measure to remove the flag from atop the South Carolina Capitol is halfway through its Legislature.

5.   Business leaders, many with close ties to Beasley, have called for removing the flag as a way to stimulate investment in the state.

6.   Charles Condon, the state attorney general and a Republican, said removing the flag would dishonor those who died defending their homes against Union invaders.

7.   Christa Robinson, a spokeswoman, said removing the flag was purely a graphics design decision.

8.   Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges has said he would sign any bill the Legislature passed to remove the flag.

9.   Earlier in the campaign, he refused to say whether he thought the Confederate flag should be removed from the South Carolina Statehouse.

10.   Earlier this year, the NAACP called for an economic boycott of South Carolina, beginning next January, to force the state to remove the flag.