REDDING, Calif. – For the first time in history, the Confederate flag made its way inside the Capitol building.

Just outside, protestors waving that same exact flag as people stormed the building.

To many people, the confederate flag represents division, hate, slavery, and oppression while others claim it's part of American history.

Robert Tinkler, a history professor at Chico State University, tells Action News Now people started using the Confederate flag at protests around the 1940s. The flag then became a rallying point for people against the civil rights movement.

“It was really in 1948, when a pro-segregation party ran a presidential candidate, the so-called Dixiecrats,” said Tinkler.

“At their convention, they brought out the Confederate battle flag.”

But even more than 150 years after the Civil War and decades after the Civil Rights Movement, it still divides us.

“We should only have one flag, one nation under god. Not two flags, not three flags,” said Cuco Oropeza of Red Bluff.

“When you have a flag it means you're making an alliance to that party or to that position.”

“It’s symbolism if somebody doesn't like well tough,” said Kenneth Harrison of Texas.

“They don't have a constitutional right to not like it. If they choose to be offended they're walking around with a chip on their block.”

Tinkler says some people now use the flag as a symbol of their anger at the government.

“Many groups, that see themselves as having beef with the federal government or federal policies, have often use the confederate battle flag,” said Tinkler.

“Often it has nothing to do with the Civil War, it has more to do with what's going on in America right now.”

Tinklers adds that after the Civil War the Confederate battle flag didn't show up in many public places.