NASHVILLE, Tenn. —  A federal appeals court panel has ruled in favor of a Tennessee high school that banned students from wearing clothing with the Confederate battle flag after several racial incidents.

Students Derek Barr, Chris White and Roger Craig White claimed in a lawsuit that their free speech rights were violated by the 2005 ban on the Confederate symbol at William BloFeunt High School in Maryville.

School officials said their ban came after racial tension that included a fight, a civil rights complaint and graffiti of a Confederate flag, a racial slur and a noose.

In its opinion filed Wednesday in Cincinnati, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that school officials had a right to ban the flag because they could "reasonably forecast" that it would disrupt education.