Country star wears Confederate flag for NBC Christmas special

Country music star Trace Adkins on Wednesday wore a tiny Confederate battle flag while singing on on NBC's nationally-televised Christmas tree-lighting special.

During his "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire" performance, close-ups of Adkins clearly showed that his earpiece was covered with the flag of the Confederacy, which many consider to be a symbol of racism.

The display comes only weeks after President Barack Obama won re-election and the White House website received thousands of signatures on petitions from all 50 states requesting permission to secede from the union.

Last year, Adkins joined a campaign urging Congress to preserve Civil War battlefields because he said they "serve as monuments to what can happen when political wisdom fails and our differences are allowed to escalate beyond reason."

According to IMDB, the country music star is a life member of the Louisiana Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

"When the Yankees charged and the colors fell / Overton Hill was a living hell," Adkins sings in his 2005 single "Til the Last Shot's Fired."

"Say a prayer for peace for every fallen son / Set my spirit free, let me lay down my gun / Sweet Mother Mary I'm so tired / But I can't come home 'til the last shot's fired."

Watch this video from NBC via AOL, broadcast Nov. 29, 2012.