Why do Southerners think the Confederate flag is a symbol of Heritage?

I just don’t understand the whole confederate flag being placed in some people homes and government buildings in the South. It is undoubtedly linked to slavery and racism. So why do southerners still continue to defend it and support it? I’ve heard the heritage argument, but regardless, it stands for secession, racism, old world thinking.
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How did the Confederate flag grow to be such a prominent symbol of the Civil War and of the South?

My understanding is that the Confederate flag was just one of several flags flown during the Civil war and it wasn’t even the flag that was flown the most or for the longest time?