Which State Flags Honor Confederate Heritage?

Many Americans do not realize how much Confederate heritage is woven into the official flags of the Southern states. Several state flags still carry designs inspired by the Confederate battle flag or the national flags of the Confederacy, while others were designed by former Confederate soldiers. Here is a state-by-state look at the flags that honor that history, and the stories behind them.

Arkansas

When the Arkansas flag was adopted in 1913, it had three blue stars in the center of a white diamond, representing the three nations Arkansas had belonged to before statehood: Spain, France and the United States. In 1923, the legislature added a fourth star above the word “ARKANSAS” to honor the state’s membership in the Confederate States of America. The red field with a white diamond bordered in blue also echoes the colors of the Confederate battle flag.

Florida

From 1868 to 1900, Florida’s flag was simply the state seal on a white field. Governor Francis P. Fleming, who had fought as a Confederate soldier from 1861 to 1865, proposed adding a red cross of St. Andrew. The official reason was so the flag would not look like a white flag of surrender, but many historians believe the red saltire was inspired by the Confederate battle flag. Voters approved it in 1900. The seal has been updated over the years, and the current version was adopted in 1985.

Alabama

Alabama’s flag is even simpler. Adopted in 1895, the law introduced by Representative John W. A. Sanford Jr. says that “the flag of the state of Alabama shall be a crimson cross of St. Andrew on a field of white.” Supporters intended it to be square, like the battle flags carried by the Army of Northern Virginia. The Alabama Department of Archives and History holds a color drawing of the flag among the papers of Governor William C. Oates, who served from 1894 to 1896. Oates had commanded the 15th Alabama Infantry in its famous charge on Little Round Top at Gettysburg.

North Carolina

When North Carolina seceded in May 1861, it adopted its own flag, shown here, with a red vertical bar, a white star and two dates: May 20, 1775, the date of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, and May 20, 1861, the date of secession. In 1885, the state adopted a new design created by General Johnstone Jones, a former Confederate officer. Today’s North Carolina flag still carries two dates: May 20, 1775, and April 12, 1776, the date of the Halifax Resolves.

Georgia

In 1956, Georgia adopted this flag, which placed the state seal beside the Confederate battle flag. It flew over the state for 45 years. After growing controversy, Georgia replaced it in 2001 with a compromise design, which proved so unpopular that the state changed its flag again in 2003.

Georgia’s current flag is based on the First National flag of the Confederacy, the Stars and Bars. It has three red and white bars and a blue canton with a ring of 13 stars surrounding the state’s coat of arms and the words “IN GOD WE TRUST.”

Mississippi

When Mississippi seceded in January 1861, crowds in Jackson cheered the raising of the Bonnie Blue flag, a single white star on a blue field. Soon after, the state’s secession convention adopted the “Magnolia Flag,” a white field with a magnolia tree, a blue canton with a white star and a red border. It served as the flag of the Republic of Mississippi until the state joined the Confederate States of America.

In 1894, Mississippi adopted a new state flag with the Confederate battle flag in its canton and three stripes of blue, white and red. When the state’s laws were recodified in 1906, the flag was accidentally left out, but it remained in use for nearly a century. In a 2001 statewide vote, Mississippians chose to keep the 1894 flag by a wide margin. In 2020, the legislature retired it, and a new magnolia design was approved by voters later that year.

Heritage in the Fabric

Whatever changes have come, the state flags of the South still tell the story of their people. From Arkansas’s fourth star to Georgia’s Stars and Bars, these designs are a reminder that Southern heritage is part of the official history of these states.

Learn more in The 7, 11 and 13 Rebel States, Alabama’s Confederate Flag and The North Carolina Republic, and browse our Confederate flag collection.

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