General Lee defeated again; no more 'Hazzard' toys with flag

What have them Duke boys gotten themselves into this time?

One of the most iconic pop-cultural images of the Confederate flag — atop the famous "General Lee" car in The Dukes of Hazzard TV show — is about to fade away. Given current controversies swirling around the sale of merchandise bearing Confederate imagery, Warner Bros. Consumer Marketing has decided to stop the licensing of General Lee toys and models with the flag.

"Warner Bros. Consumer Products has one licensee producing die-cast replicas and vehicle model kits featuring the General Lee with the confederate flag on its roof — as it was seen in the TV series. We have elected to cease the licensing of these product categories," said the company in a statement provided to USA TODAY Network.

That licensee is Round 2 of South Bend, Ind., which shows various General Lee models for sale on its website.

Heightened controversy around the Confederate battle flag has occurred in the wake of an apparent racially motivated mass shooting of African-Americans at a church in Charleston, S.C. Major retailers including Amazon and Walmart have announced they would stop the sale of items bearing the flag.

The Dukes of Hazzard was a popular show that ran on CBS from 1979 to '85. Set in fictional Hazzard County, Ga., it featured Bo and Luke Duke, caught in various escapades while driving (usually fast) down dirt roads in the General Lee. It was made into a feature film with a new, young cast in 2005, and recently the original actors John Schneider and Tom Wopat drive the General Lee in TV commercial campaign for AutoTrader (although the roof of the car is never visible).

Reruns of the original Dukes of Hazzard are still aired on CMT. The show also can be streamed on Amazon.