By lunchtime Thursday, a solitary figurine of a flag bearer clad in gray and carrying the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia was the only Confederate themed gift for sale in Vicksburg National Military Park.

It wasn’t clear if he would be for sale or simply for show after the National Park Service ordered most Confederate imagery removed from its gift shops and bookstores.

But there he was, in scale model glory with a flag boasting of service at Manassas, Mechanicsville, Harpers Ferry, Frazier’s Farm, Cedar Run, Hanover, Cold Harbor and Oak Hills. This mustachioed man with pistol loaded and aimed had obviously lived through the toughest of fights where directions sometimes got lost in the fog of war.

More than a century and a half later, he’s at the center of another where directions were lost.

At a time when the country is in need of clarity and vision, the National Park Service gave little of either when it called for gift shops inside its parks to remove all gift items bearing Confederate imagery.

The park service initially issued an ambiguous directive that used “Confederate battle flag” and “Confederate flag” interchangeably. Later in a prepared statement by National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis, the park service said, “Confederate flags include the Stainless Banner, the Third National Confederate Flag and the Confederate Battle Flag.”

In a politically charged situation such as debate over Confederate imagery, it is important to have succinct directions. The National Park Service Thursday failed to be succinct, failed to be clear.

The problem is that some flags used by the Confederacy here at Vicksburg and in many of the more than 70 National Park Service sites directly related to the Civil War, don’t include those images that the park service has deemed unsellable.

They were yanked all the shelves anyway in precaution.

“We’re going to have to wait and get some guidance,” VNMP ranger Ray Hamel said Thursday. “I’m sure we’re not the only park wondering about this today.”

Other flags, including a square battle flag made of 13 stars in a St. Andrew’s Cross, were used here. Unfortunately, the directions handed down by the Park Service this week were all to similar to the uniforms worn by Confederate soldiers — gray.