Flag of North Carolina: Difference between revisions

During the American Civil War, [[secessionist]] leaders spoke of the Mecklenburg Declaration with reverence, attempting to connect it with the state's joining the Confederacy. Confederate leader [[Jefferson Davis]] spoke to a [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]] crowd in September 1864, saying "people of this section were the first to defy [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] authority and declare themselves free" encouraging them to continue backing the Confederacy's civil war effort.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historiccharlott0000unse |title=Historic Charlotte County : an illustrated history |date=2011 |publisher=Historical Pub. Network |isbn=9781935377337 |editor=Houck, Douglas |edition=1st |location=San Antonio, TX |pages=34 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Ingraham, Christopher Ingraham |date=Jun 21, 2015 |title=How the Confederacy lives on in the flags of seven Southern states |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/06/21/how-the-confederacy-lives-on-in-the-flags-of-seven-southern-states/ |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

 

A former Confederate soldier and [[Adjutant General of North Carolina|adjutant general of North Carolina]] (1877{{endash}}1888), Johnston Jones, introduced the bill which led the state legislature to adopt a new flag in March 1885, to replace the flag that had been adopted on June 22, 1861. The red field of the old flag was replaced by a blue field. This was the first and only flag formally representing the State of North Carolina as part of the United States.<ref name="Edmonds">{{cite book|author=Edmonds, W. R.|year=1913|title=The North Carolina state flag|location=Raleigh, N.C.|publisher=Edwards & Broughton Print. Co.|url=http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p249901coll22,20643}}</ref>

 

{{quote|That the flag of North Carolina shall consist of a blue union, containing in the center thereof a white star with the letter "N" in gilt on the left and the letter "C" in gilt on the right of said star, the circle containing the same to be one-third the width of the union. The fly of the flag shall consist of two equally proportioned bars; the upper bar to be red, the lower bar to be white; that the length of the bars horizontally shall be equal to the perpendicular length of the union, and the total length of the flag shall be one-third more than its width. That above the star in the center of the union there shall be a gilt scroll in semi-circular form, containing in black letters this inscription "May 20th 1775," and that below the star there shall be a similar scroll containing in black letters the inscription: "April 12th 1776".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/statutes/statutelookup.pl?statute=144-1|title=North Carolina General Statute 144-1|website=ncleg.net|access-date=December 27, 2019}}, (1885, c. 291; Rev., s. 5321; C.S., s. 7535; 1991, c. 361, s. 1.)</ref>}}

 

[[File:Flag of North Carolina.svg|thumb|upright=0.8|State flag (1991–present) {{FIAV|normal}}]]

On June 24, 1991, a bill was passed by the [[North Carolina Senate]] that changed the official proportions of the state flag. It changed from "… the total length of the flag shall be one-third more than its width" as written in the 1885 act to "… the total length of the flag shall be one-half more than its width."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-nc.html|title=North Carolina (U.S.)|website=flags of the world|access-date=December 27, 2019}}</ref>

[[Category:Symbols of North Carolina|Flag]]

[[Category:United States state flags|North Carolina]]