Flags of the World,
United States and its State Flags,
Part 1 (Alabama to Mississippi)

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United States and its State Flags,
Part 1 (Alabama to Mississippi)

United States National | Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi |

United States and its State Flags,
Part 2 (Missouri to Wyoming)

United States National | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington, D. C. | Washington State | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming

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United States National Flag

This flag, with its 50 stars, was officially adopted on July 4, 1960.

There are thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars; the 50 stars represent the current 50 states, the 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies; known as “Old Glory”; the design and colors have been the basis for a number of other flags, including Chile, Liberia, Malaysia, and Puerto Rico.

Until the Executive Order of June 24, 1912, neither the order of the stars nor the proportions of the flag was prescribed. Consequently, flags dating before this period sometimes show unusual arrangements of the stars and odd proportions, these features being left to the discretion of the flag maker. In general, however, straight rows of stars and proportions similar to those later adopted officially were used. The principal acts affecting the flag of the United States are the following:

• Flag Resolution of June 14, 1777; stated: “Resolved: that the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.”
• Act of January 13, 1794; provided for 15 stripes and 15 stars after May 1795.
• Act of April 4, 1818; provided for 13 stripes and one star for each state, to be added to the flag on the 4th of July following the admission of each new state.
• Executive Order of President Taft dated June 24, 1912; established proportions of the flag and provided for arrangement of the stars in six horizontal rows of eight each, a single point of each star to be upward.
• Executive Order of President Eisenhower dated January 3, 1959; provided for the arrangement of the stars in seven rows of seven stars each, staggered horizontally and vertically.
• Executive Order of President Eisenhower dated August 21, 1959; provided for the arrangement of the stars in nine rows of stars staggered horizontally and eleven rows of stars staggered vertically.

Britain’s American colonies broke with the mother country in 1776 and were recognized as the new nation of the United States of America following the Treaty of Paris in 1783. During the 19th and 20th centuries, 37 new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the North American continent and acquired a number of overseas possessions. The two most traumatic experiences in the nation’s history were the Civil War (1861-65) and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Buoyed by victories in World Wars I and II and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the US remains the world’s most powerful nation-state.

U.S. dependent areas include: American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and Wake Island.

From 18 July, 1947 until 1 October, 1994; the US administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, but recently entered into a new political relationship with all four political units: the Northern Mariana Islands is a commonwealth in political union with the US (effective 3 November, 1986); Palau concluded a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 1 October, 1994); the Federated States of Micronesia signed a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 3 November, 1986); the Republic of the Marshall Islands signed a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 21 October, 1986).

For a greater perspective, see the 26-flag history of U.S. national flags.

Alabama

The present Alabama State Flag was authorized by the Alabama Legislature on February 16, 1895, by act number 383. According to the Acts of Alabama, 1895, the state flag was to be a crimson cross of St. Andrew on a field of white. The bars forming the cross were not to be less than six inches broad and must extend diagonally across the flag from side to side. The act does not designate a square or a rectangular flag.

Alabama’s past flags.

On January 11, 1861, the Secession Convention passed a resolution designating a flag designed by a group of Montgomery women as their official flag. This flag has often been referred to as the Republic of Alabama Flag. One side of the flag displayed the Goddess of Liberty holding in her right hand an unsheathed sword; in the left a small flag with one star. In an arch above this figure were the words “Independent Now and Forever.” On the other side of the flag was a cotton plant with a coiled rattlesnake. Beneath the cotton plant are the Latin words: Noli Me Tangere, (Touch Me Not). This flag was flown until February 10, 1861, when it was removed to the Governor’s Office after it was damaged by severe weather. It was never flown again.

From March 4, 1861 until General James H. Wilson’s occupation of Montgomery in April 1865, a Confederate National Flag was flown, either the First National Flag or the Second National Flag. After the end of the Civil War, the United States Flag was used for all official occasions.

Motto: Audemus jura nostra defendere, “We dare defend our rights.” The Latin phrase appears on the official coat of arms adopted in 1939.

Nickname: Heart of Dixie —Cotton State

Origin of state’s name: Means “tribal town” in the Creek Indian language

First National Flag of the Confederacy, 1861–1863, “Stars and Bars”

Soon after formation of the Confederate States of America, delegates from the seceded states met as a provisional government in Montgomery, Alabama. Among the early actions was appointment of a committee to propose a new flag and seal for the Confederacy. The proposal adopted by the committee called for a flag consisting of a red field divided by a white band one-third the width of the field, thus producing three bars of equal width. The flag had a square blue union the height of two bars, on which was placed a circle of white stars corresponding in number to the states of the Confederacy: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.

The First National Flag of the Confederacy soon came to be known as the “Stars and Bars.” With seven stars at first, the number jumped to eleven with the secession of Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee, and finally to thirteen (in recognition of the symbolic admission of Kentucky and Missouri to the Confederacy). In some cases, the canton had a large star within the circle of stars. At least two versions of the flag survive with Georgia’s coat of arms in the center of the stars.






The Third National Confederate Flag of Alabama at first had a white fly; but it was redesigned because there was a fear that it might be mistaken for a flag of truce, so the “Stainless Banner” was modified to include a red bar on the fly. It was to be one-fourth of the area of the flag beyond the now rectangular canton.

Alaska

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Arizona

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Arkansas

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California

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Colorado

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Connecticut

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Delaware

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Florida

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Georgia

• On Tuesday, March 2, 2004, when Georgia voters cast their ballots for the Democratic presidential primary, they also cast their ballots on whether to retain the current state flag or reinstate the 2001 flag.
• Current Governor Sonny Perdue signed a bill on May 8, 2003, that simultaneously established the current flag and called for the referendum. That bill established the state’s third flag in 27 months, giving Georgia the national record.
• The blue flag was adopted after years of lobbying by Civil Rights groups and some legislators against the previous flag that displayed a Confederate battle emblem.
• Senator George Hooks, who is said to have had a passion for history, designed the current flag in 2003.
• His family has lived in the senatorial district he represents for eight generations.
• With 82 percent of the ballots reported Tuesday night, that red, white and blue flag was the choice of 75 percent of the Georgians who voted in the non-binding referendum.
• Although the current flag is “historically correct” and is similar to one adopted by the state legislature 125 years ago, it was also supported by African-American leaders because it did not contain the St. Andrews Cross and because by voting for it more legislative action might be avoided.
• Now that Georgia’s new red, white and blue flag has won the approval of voters, state leaders say it will be up to county and city governments to decide what they will do with the old blue banner replaced last year by lawmakers.
• It is doubtful that any executive order would be issued directing state agencies or workers on how to dispose of the blue banner, which became the state’s official flag in 2001 under former governor Roy Barnes.
• With all but a few precincts reporting, the current flag amassed 579,929 votes (about 74 percent) to 200,510 votes for the 2001 design.
• Tuesday’s vote marked what many lawmakers are hoping will be the final chapter in the decades-old debate over whether to have some form of the Confederate battle emblem on Georgia's official banner.
• The emblem, known as the Rebel “X” or St. Andrew’s Cross, dominated the state flag from 1956 to 2001, and ultimately played a role in the downfall of Barnes, who pushed the blue flag through the state legislature as a replacement in 2001.
• The outcome of the Tuesday referendum thrilled many legislators, both black and white. The new red, white and blue banner, modeled after the first national flag of the Confederacy, minus the Rebel “X” which has been associated with too many divisive issues to win wide support.
• Since lawmakers voted last April to bring down Barnes’ blue banner and hold a referendum, the state has spent $156,223.90 on red, white and blue replacement flags for state and local government offices.
• The state also spent $9,680 in taxpayer money to send color prints of the 2001 and 2003 flags to voters who cast absentee ballots for Tuesday’s referendum.

This information is based on and excerpted from articles found in the following news sources:

“Old flags’ fate local decision” by Brian Basinger of the Morris News Service; published in the Athens Banner-Herald, March 4, 2004.

“Current flag clear favorite” by Richard Hyatt in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Georgia; March 3, 2004.

Hawaii

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Idaho

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Illinois

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Indiana

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Iowa

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Kansas

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Kentucky

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Louisiana

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Maine

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Maryland

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Massachusetts

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Michigan

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Minnesota

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Mississippi

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The bird of time has but a little way
To flutter—and the bird is on the wing.

-Omar Khayyám, from the Rubaiyat