Apple joins the bandwagon of merchants that have pulled merchandise bearing the Confederate flag today as it pulls several apps from the iTunes store. Apple points to section 19.1 of the App Store Review Guidelines that states, " references or commentary about a religious, cultural or ethnic group that are defamatory, offensive, mean-spirited or likely to expose the targeted group to harm or violence will be rejected." A lot of companies are crying outrage since some of the games that were removed are actually references to the flag as part of history, particularly the civil war.

Macworld believes that this decision came about when pundits pointed out that there is an abundance of the flag in the app store after Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted a statement saying, "Let us honor their lives by eradicating racism & removing the symbols & words that feed it." It is likely, however, that the decision to remove the confederate flag was a result of various public figures, including President Barack Obama, calling to remove the flag from South Carolina Statehouse grounds. As stated previously, big retail companies like Ebay, Amazon, Etsy and Walmart have already removed merchandise bearing the symbol.

Notable apps like the Civil War series from Hunted Cow/Hexwar games have been the first to feel Apple's witch hunt. Company Director, Andrew Mulholland insists that the use of the flag was in no way offensive as the games are centered on historical wars and the Confederate flag was used during that era. The guidelines of how Apple chooses which titles are to be removed are still hazy as there are still a lot of apps, albums and TV shows on iTunes that still bear the flag.

While it's unlikely that any app developer intend the inclusion of the Confederate flag to offend a particular race or creed, Apple is determined to clean out its closet for any possible offensive material. Debates over the issue of the flag continue, but there's little to no legislative effort to really address the country's need for gun control. If your app has the flag, we wish you the best of luck.