A Confederate battle flag that hung for decades in Virginia's House of Delegates prior to the Capitol's $105 million makeover will be replaced by a later Civil War-era flag and relocated to a new exhibit gallery near the building's front entrance.

The decision announced yesterday by House Speaker William J. Howell quells a long-running debate with a Confederate heritage group that objected to the 1861 battle flag's omission from the renovated chamber.

In making the decision, Mr. Howell, Stafford Republican, accepted a committee's recommendation that all flags that had hung in the chamber before the renovation should be moved to the new Capitol extension gallery.