We recently touched on the secession flags that were created and displayed during the American Civil War. As you know, all of the states that seceded from the Union rejoined the United States after the war. In doing so, all of these states decided to redesign their state flag as a symbol of allegiance to the United States. However, some of the new southern state flags still contain a bit of confederate influence. Let’s take a look. Please note that this post is strictly intended to be an educational piece.
Alabama
The Alabama state flag features a white background with a red X cross, more commonly described as a saltire. While a saltire is displayed on numerous flags throughout the world, it was also prominently featured on the Confederate flag. The Alabama state flag was officially adopted in 1895 and historians believe that it resembles the Alabama infantry battle flag during the Civil War.
Arkansas
The Arkansas state flag contains four blue stars around the name “Arkansas”. These blue stars represent the countries that the state has belonged to throughout its history. These countries are France, Spain, the United States and the Confederate States of America.
Florida
The state flag of Florida closely resembles the Alabama state flag with only one major difference – the state seal at the center of the saltire. Francis P. Fleming, the Florida governor at the time of the flag’s adoption, suggested the flag design after seeing Alabama’s state flag design. What’s the correlation? The governor was a member of the Confederate army in his earlier years.
Georgia
The state flag of Georgia has one of the newest state flag designs in the United States. Their current flag was adopted in 2001 and features a circle of white stars, similar to the first national flag of the Confederate States of America, but also similar to the Betsy Ross flag.
Mississippi
The flag of Mississippi is the only state flag that contains a clear, undisputable reference to the Confederate flag. All other southern state flags can argue against the Confederate design references, but Mississippi’s state flag displays the full Confederate flag in the top left corner.
Tennessee
The correlation between the Confederate flag and the Tennessee state flag is based purely on color scheme. Both flags feature white stars in a blue field sitting on a red background. While this is the least conclusive correlation of all the southern state flags on this list, historians believe there is a relationship between the two.
Credits: Washington Post
