Asked by the Revolutionary Council of Safety in the fall of 1775 to design a flag for the use of South Carolina troops, Col. William Moultrie chose a blue that matched the color of their uniforms and a crescent that reproduced the silver emblem worn on the front of their caps.
South Carolina needed a national flag after it seceded from the Union on Dec. 20, 1860. The General Assembly considered a wide range of designs, but on Jan. 28, 1861, added the palmetto to Moultrie's original design. The palmetto represented the colonials defense of the palmetto-log fort on Sullivan's Island against the British on June 28, 1776.
A resolution proposing to change the color to "royal purple" as a memorial to Confederate dead was defeated in 1899, leaving the flag's Revolutionary War symbolism complete.
Robert Hainer, 9 April 1998
Actually there were SC flags with Palmetto trees on them prior to the Civil War. The SC Militia Act of 1839 specified flags of that type (sometimes on red fields as opposed to blue) and the Palmetto Regiment of the Mexican War carried flags of this nature in the mid-1840's.
At the beginning of the secession period of 1860-1861 there were indeed a number of designs submitted to the state committee. For a detailed account of these flags please see "A Flag Worthy Of Your State And People" by Wylma Wates. This was published by the SC Dept. of Archives And History.
Greg Biggs, 9 April 1998
Back in 1965, the Flag Bulletin published an article entitled "And the Ensign of South Carolina Shall Be ..." which stated that the legislature adopted a different Palmetto flag the day prior to the adoption of the present flag. It was blue with a crescent in the canton and a white oval in the center bearing a gold palmetto tree.
Dave Martucci, 9 April 1998
by Tom Gregg, 14 April 1998
Adopted 26 January 1861 and superseded on 28 January by the present design.
Tom Gregg, 14 April 1998 |
South Carolina (SC) State Flag
