Ku Klux Klan Rider in Tennessee about 1868 and Klan Banner The white robes that we associate with the Ku Klux Klan are a twentieth-century phenomenon. During Reconstruction, Klansmen wore robes of various designs and colors. Hooded horses added another element to the Klan’s terror. The Klansman holds a flag that looks very much like the satanic dragon on the colorful Klan banner shown here, which contains a Latin motto from Saint Augustine’s definition of Catholic truth: “that which [has been believed] always, everywhere, by all.” Among Klansmen, this motto was likely to refer to the truth of white supremacy.
Rider: Tennessee State Museum Collection; banner: Chicago Historical Society.