Georgia State Flag

Adopted on January 31, 2001; May 8th, 2003 .

In early 2000, Atlanta architect Cecil Alexander brought forth a "compromise" flag design consisting of the state seal, fittingly depicted in "Dahlonega Gold," surrounded by 13 white stars. Below is a gold ribbon containing small images of the three state flags that have flown over Georgia, as well as the current and past versions of the United States flag. Above the small rows of flags is the phrase "Georgia's History."

On January 24, 2001, the Georgia House approved H.B. 16, adopting Alexander's flag design as the new state flag with an amendment to add "In God We Trust" beneath the ribbon of flags. H.B. 16 was then transmitted to the Senate, where it was passed without amendment on January 30, 2001.

Georgia State Flag, c. 2001-2003

On January 31, 2001 Governor Roy Barnes signed into law a bill to change the design of the state flag. For more than 15 years, opponents of the flag rallied and introduced legislation aimed at removing the confederate emblem featured prominently on the 1956 state flag. Because of the controversy, many Georgia cities and private businesses throughout the state refused to fly the official Georgia flag, opting instead to display the pre-1956 version.

In early 2000, Atlanta architect Cecil Alexander brought forth a "compromise" flag design consisting of the state seal, fittingly depicted in "Dahlonega Gold," surrounded by 13 white stars. Below is a gold ribbon containing small images of the three state flags that have flown over Georgia, as well as the current and past versions of the United States flag. Above the small rows of flags is the phrase "Georgia's History."

On January 24, 2001, the Georgia House approved H.B. 16, adopting Alexander's flag design as the new state flag with an amendment to add "In God We Trust" beneath the ribbon of flags. H.B. 16 was then transmitted to the Senate, where it was passed without amendment on January 30, 2001.

Fox News:

New State Flag Rises Over Georgia
Wednesday, January 31, 2001 By Patricia M. Lahay

A new Georgia flag with a much smaller Confederate battle emblem was hoisted above the statehouse Wednesday, nearly a half century after legislators stamped the rebel symbol on the state banner.

The flag was raised quietly and quickly, much like the compromise that Gov. Roy Barnes began hustling through the Legislature one week ago with a surprise unveiling.

The new banner features a gold Georgia seal on a blue background above a ribbon with five tiny historic flags, including the former state flag with the Confederate battle emblem.

Earlier Tuesday, Barnes signed the bill consigning to history the old banner dominated by the rebel fighting emblem, less than 24 hours after the measure won final legislative approval.

Adopted in 1956.

At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, it was agreed that each state, while loyal to the United States flag, should also have its own flag. After the Georgia Seal was adopted in 1799, the first state flag was designed with the Seal centered on a field of blue. In 1879 the General Assembly of Georgia passed an act changing the flag to a vertical band of blue next to the staff occupying one third of the flag; the remainder was divided into three horizontal bands with the upper and lower in red and the middle in white. In 1905 the state Seal was added to the vertical blue band. Having two fields, one of deep blue and the other dark red, the Georgia flag showcases the Battle Flag of the Confederacy and the state seal. On the state seal is the year 1776, the date of the Declaration of Independence. The three pillars stand for the three branches of government Legislative, Executive and the Courts. The arch above the pillars stands for the constitution. A ribbon expresses the ideals of the constitution "wisdom", "justice" and "moderation". The orignal state flag was designed by John Sammons Bell, an Atlanta attorney, and was adopted as the official flag of Georgia in 1956.

Georgia State Flag, c. 1920-1956

By the late 1910s or early 1920s, a new, unofficial version of Georgia's state flag- one incorporating the entire state seal- began appearing. There is no record of who ordered the change or when it took place.

The new flag may have resulted from a 1914 law changing the date on Georgia's state seal from 1799 (the date the seal was adopted) to 1776 (the year of independence). Because some flag makers had been including "1799" beneath the coat of arms, it became necessary to change the date on new flags. At that point, possibly the Secretary of State or a flag manufacturer may have decided that the entire state seal created a more uniform flag.

The first state publication to show Georgia's flag with a seal was the Georgia Official Register for 1927, which contained the artist's color rendering shown above. In reality, until the mid-1950s (when a new seal was drawn), various versions of the Georgia seal were used on state flags.

Georgia State Flag, c. 1906-1920

Between 1902 and 1906, some unknown person or flag manufacturer added a gold-outlined white shield to the coat of arms, placed the date "1799" below the arms and added a red ribbon with "Georgia" below the shield. Although the General Assembly hadn't authorized any changes to the state flag, apparently no one contested the new version. In fact, a Georgia history book for children published in 1906 includes a full-page color rendering of this design, indicating this to be the state flag of Georgia.

Georgia State Flag, c. 1902-1906

In 1902, as part of another major reorganization of state military laws, the General Assembly changed Georgia's state flag again. New language was added stipulating: "On the blue field shall be stamped, painted or embroidered the coat of arms of the State; and every regiment and unassigned battalion shall, when on parade, carry this flag." The above flag is a reconstruction of Georgia's flag with the addition of the state coat of arms.

If flag makers had followed the letter of the law, Georgia's state flag from 1902 to 1956 would have appeared as pictured above.

Georgia State Flag, 1879-1902

In 1879, state senator Herman H. Perry introduced legislation giving Georgia its first official state flag. Colonel Perry was a Confederate veteran, a fact that probably influenced his proposal to take the Stars and Bars, remove the stars, extend the blue canton to the bottom of the flag and narrow its width slightly. The legislation provided no height vs. length dimensions, but it did stipulate the width of the blue band was to be one-third the length of the entire flag. Also, the red of the flag was specified to be scarlet.

Why had Georgia finally adopted an official state flag? On the previous day, the 1879 General Assembly had passed a law rectifying state law regulating volunteer troops. Included in the revision was a provision 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."

Governor Colquitt approved Georgia's first official state flag on October 17, 1879.

Georgia State Flag Before 1879 (Unofficial)

History does not record who made the first Georgia state flag, when it was made, what it looked like, or who authorized its creation. Probably, the banner originated in one of the numerous militia units that existed in antebellum Georgia.

In 1861, a new provision was added to Georgia's code requiring the governor to supply regimental flags to Georgia militia units assigned to fight outside the state. These flags were to depict the "arms of the State" and the name of the regiment, but the code gave no indication as to the color to be used on the arms or the flag's background. In heraldry, "arms" refers to a coat of arms, which is the prominent design--usually shown on a shield--located at the center of an armorial bearing or seal. Arms usually appear on seals, but they are not synonymous with seals.

Based on the best available evidence, the above flag is a reconstruction of the pre-1879 Georgia state flag as it would have appeared using the coat of arms from the 1799 state seal.

See : Flags That Have Flown Over Georgia: The History of the Georgia State Flag

Official description

Official description from Georgia Sec. 50-3-1. Description of state flag; militia to carry flag.The flag of the State of Georgia shall be a blue field, centered upon which shall be placed a representation of that side of the great seal of the state described at subsection (c) of Code Section 50-3-30, centered in a circle of 13 equally spaced white mullets or five-pointed stars, and beneath the same shall be an escroll or ribbon, gold, two-thirds the length of the field, bearing the words "Georgia's History" and charged below said words with a representation of five flags horizontally presented as follows: the first, to the left, being that version of the flag of the United States of America consisting of a field of 13 red and white stripes and, centered in a canton of blue, a circle of 13 equally spaced white mullets or five-pointed stars, as adopted by the Continental Congress in 1777 and commonly known as the "Stars and Stripes" or the "1777 Flag"; to the right thereof a flag consisting of a field of blue, centered upon which shall be placed a representation of the coat of arms of the state as the same appeared on the great seal of the state adopted in 1799, and which flag is commonly known as the "Pre-1879 Georgia State Flag"; to the right thereof a flag consisting of a vertical band of blue occupying the leftmost one-third of the entire flag, on which shall be placed a representation of that side of the great seal of the state approved in 1914 which contained the coat of arms of the state, and the remainder of which flag shall consist of a scarlet field horizontally bisected by a white band such that said band shall be equal in width to the remainder of the scarlet field both above and below, which flag is commonly known as the "Pre-1956 Georgia State Flag"; to the right thereof the flag of the State of Georgia as approved at Ga. L. 1956, p. 38, Section 1; and to the right thereof that version of the flag of the United States of America consisting of a field of 13 red and white stripes and a canton of blue bearing 50 white mullets or five-pointed stars, such that such flag shall represent the flag of the United States of America as the same appeared on July 4, 1960. And under the horizontal representation of the five flags, the phrase "In God We Trust" shall be written in the blue section and in the same gold color as the State Seal. Every force of the organized militia shall carry this flag when on parade or review.

State Flags

The flags of the US states exhibit a wide variety of regional influences and local histories, as well as widely different styles and design principles. Modern state flags date from the 1890s when states wanted to have distinctive symbols at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

flag (flag)
noun

1. a piece of cloth or bunting, often attached to a staff, with distinctive colors, patterns, or symbolic devices, used as a national or state symbol, as a signal, etc.; banner; standard; ensign