A Confederate flag flies at a NASCAR auto race in Alabama. Source: AP

The retail giants were joined by eBay, Sears and Kmart. The move follows calls from South Carolina’s ­Republican Governor, Nikki Haley, to remove the ­controversial flag from the grounds of the state capital following protests.

Civil-rights activists have long pushed for the flag to be removed from official use and the debate has returned to the spotlight since last Thursday’s killings by suspect­ed white-supremacist gunman Dylann Roof, who appears­ in ­photos with the banner on a website linked to his name.

Unemployed loner Roof has been charged with nine counts of murder. All his victims were black.

The battle flag — a red rectangle marked with a blue cross embedded with white stars — is a powerful symbol of the pro-­slavery south during the Amer­ican Civil War. It is seen by some as a symbol of southern US heritage, but by others as a racist relic of a bygone era.

South Carolina politicians voted overwhelmingly yesterday to consider removing the Confederate flag from their statehouse.

Prodded by Ms Haley’s call the day before to move the flag to a museum, legislators approved a measure enabling a flag debate by a vote of 103-10 in the house and a voice vote in the Senate.

The house vote brought a standing ovation and rounds of ­applause after Democratic and Republican leaders jointly sponsored the measure in a show of unity. Very few legislators rose to say the flag should stay; some said they were saving speeches for what promises to be an emotional debate later this year.

Legislators then prayed for state senator Clementa Pinckney, who joined the legislature in 1997 and who, as pastor of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopalian church in Charleston, was among those killed.

Ms Haley’s call to put the Confederate flag in a museum was quickly seconded by leading ­Republicans in Washington, inclu­ding senator Lindsey Graham and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, giving others a political opening to announce their moves.

Mississippi house Speaker Philip Gunn called for removing the Confederate emblem from the state flag. Democrats and ­Republicans in Tennessee said a bust of Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest must go from the Senate.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said he wanted vanity licence plates depicting the Confederate flag replaced and Kentucky’s Republican nominee for governor, Matt Bevin, has called for the removal of a statue of Confederate president Jefferson Davis from the state capitol’s ­rotunda.

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer and a staple in the south, said it would remove Confederate flag merchandise from its shelves as a matter of respect. “We never want to offend anyone with the products that we offer,” Walmart spokesman Brian Nick said. “We have taken steps to remove all items promoting the Confederate flag from our assortment, whether in our stores or on our website.”

Chief executive Doug McMillon said he had not even known Walmart carried Confederate flag merchandise. “We just don’t want to sell products that make anyone feel uncomfortable and we felt like that was the case,” he said. “This was the right thing to do.”

An Amazon official confirmed it would remove Confederate flag paraphernalia from its site, but several related items remained in its online store yesterday.

Meanwhile, US news reports said Civil War enthusiasts — apparently worried that they no longer will be able to easily get their hands on Confederate symbols — have been snapping up flags and other Confederate flag-adorned merchandise online.

Prior to the announcement by the company official, sales of Amazon’s most popular Confederate flags rocketed by more than 3600 per cent in 24 hours.

Religious leaders, officials and politicians, including 2016 Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton, joined calls for the removal of the flag from the grounds of South Carolina’s state capital Columbia. Mrs Clinton said the flag was a “symbol of our nation’s racist past that has no place in our nation’s present or ­future”. “

She applauded the decision taken by retailers. “I urge all sellers to do the very same,” she said at a meeting in Missouri.

AFP, AP