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All 50 State
Flags

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The Georgia State Flag

The history of flags that have flown
over or were intended to fly over the state of Georgia is a long and
twisted one with many unanswered questions. Many intended designs were
never implemented. Many statutory designs were altered in practice either
by design or misunderstanding.

Two days after the election of
President Lincoln, on November 8, 1860, perhaps the first of the
"Secession Flags" was raised in Savannah, Georgia. The flag depicted a
coiled snake on a white background and was inscripted "our Motto, Southern
States, Equality of the States, Don't Tread on Me"

As the sentiment of the Georgians
embraced the idea of seceding from the Union, unofficial Secession Flags
appeared all over the state, generally depicting a single star on a solid
background. Each state being represented by a star on the Stars and
Stripes, the single star on the Secession Flags indicated that the state
had withdrawn from, or intended to withdraw from, the Union. The most well
known of these ingle-star flags is the "Bonnie Blue Flag" immortalized in
song. This flag reportedly consisted of a single white star centered on a
blue field. More evidence exists for a flag with a red star centered on a
white field.

After the war broke out, Georgia flew one of two Confederate National
Flags from 1861 to 1865.

First National Flag: Stars & Bars
1861

Second National Flag: Stainless Banner
1863

The First National Flag, the Stars
and Bars, was used from 1861 to 1863. oncern over the similarity of the
Confederate flag to the flag of the United States led to a change in
design and the Second National Flag. The so-called Stainless Banner was
used beginning in 1863. Difficulty distinguishing the Stars and Bars from
the Stars and Stripes from a distance, particularly in battle, is one
reason given for the change.

In the late months of the
Civil War, Jefferson Davis signed a bill creating a third design for the
Confederate National Flag, but it is not certain how many of these flags
were made or how many were actually raised. This third flag's width was
designated to be two thirds its length. The field remained white, however
the outer half of the field consisted of a vertical red band.

In 1879, the Georgia General Assembly
passed a law regarding volunteer troops. A provision was included that
"Every battalion of volunteers shall carry the flag of the State, when one
is adopted by Act of the General Assembly, as its battalion colors."

The next day, Herman H. Perry
introduced legislation giving Georgia its first official state flag. A
Confederate veteran, Colonel Perry's proposal was strongly influenced by
the First National Flag of the Confederate States, the Stars and Bars. His
design was to take the Stars and Bars, remove the stars and extend the
blue canton to the bottom of the flag. Governor Colquitt approved this
flag on October 17, 1879.

Georgia embarked on a major
reorganization of its state militia laws in 1902. As part of this effort
the Georgia General Assembly made a change to the flag design and
stipulated that the State Coat of Arms be stamped on the plain blue field
of the canton. It is not clear if this flag was ever made. What does exist
today are flags that show the coat of arms on a white shield and a red
ribbon below that with the state's name on it. How and why this departure
in design became the standard is not known.

In 1914, the General Assembly changed
the date on the flag from 1799 (the year the state
seal was adopted) to 1776 (the year of independence). Sometime in the
1920s, the state flag began appearing with the state
seal depicted instead of the shield or the coat of arms as stipulated
in 1902. Again, it is not known how or why this change came into
being.

In early 1955, an Atlanta
attorney proposed a new flag design, one that would incorporate the
Confederate Battle Flag. At the 1956 session of the General Assembly,
state senators Jefferson Lee Davis and Willis Harden introduced a bill to
change the state flag design again. This bill was signed into law on
February 13, 1956. For over 45 years this flag flew over the state of
Georgia; the state
seal depicted on a blue field and a representation of the Confederate
Battle Flag to the right.

Some Georgia residents were
not please with the new design, however, and found the inclusion of the
Confederate Battle Flag offensive and representative of a distasteful
segment of Georgia history. For years the design of the flag was
challenged and in January, 2001, the Georgia House and Senate voted on a
new design intended to recognize the Confederate Battle Flag's historical
significance while minimizing its prominence as representative of the
state of Georgia.  Governor Roy Barnes signed the legislation that
had made its way through the Georgia Legislature in only six days and a
new flag was quietly raised over the state capital on January 31.

This flag depicts the Great Seal of
Georgia centered on a blue field. Thirteen stars circle the seal
representing Georgia's position as one of the 13 original colonies of the
United States.  Under the seal and the stars, a banner titled
GEORGIA'S HISTORY shows five of the flags that have flown over the
state.

The first flag is that of the United States, with its 13 stars, one
for each of the colonies, circled on the blue canton.

The next design is a pre-1879 design that features the Coat of Arms
from the 1799 seal. No one knows who was responsible for this design.

The third flag is one that began to appear in the 1920s. This design
built upon the 1879 design of Colonel Herman H. Perry by adding the
Great Seal of Georgia to the blue canton.

The fourth flag flew over Georgia from 1956 to 2001.

The final flag on the banner is the current flag of The United
States.

Printed on the bottom of the flag,
under the ribbon, are the words IN GOD WE TRUST.

If you want more information on the
State Flags of the United States, you might want to check How Proudly They Wave: Flags of the Fifty States
by Rita D. Haban. This book is geared toward kids... and for adults like
me who want to know about the history and design significance of the flags
of all fifty states but can't find this information in an expensive
encyclopedia.

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