Loads of people dress up as pirates , wave pirate flags and have pirates parties , there used to be a thing called dress up as a pirate day. Pirates weren't very nice , they were murderous barbarian thieves as I recall , but they have gone , the flag is seen as a humorous artifact , and when used on hats and fancy dress it matters not.
But the confederate flag is still a symbol of racists, it is current, it is not historical , it reminds us of history mainly by its ongoing use as a racist banner .
Les is on the money and saw this coming , fair play