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Alabama
The
first flag flew over what is now Alabama in 1539. In that
year, Hernando DeSoto entered the area, flying the flag
of Spain. The first permanent settlement in Alabama was
made in 1711 by the French, who naturally flew the flag
of France. Next came the flag of Great Britain. On December
14, 1819, Alabama became a state, represented by the flag
of the United States.
Alabama
did not have its own state flag for more than forty years.
On January 11, 1861, the Secession Convention passed a
resolution designating a flag designed by a group of Montgomery
women as their official flag. It is often called the Republic
of Alabama Flag. From that date until February 18, 1861,
Alabama was a free republic, belonging to no nation.
One
side of the flag displayed the Goddess of Liberty holding
holding an unsheathed sword in her right hand, along with
a small flag with one star and the words “Independent
Now and Forever.” On the other side of the flag was a
cotton plant with a coiled rattlesnake and the Latin words
Noli Me Tangere (“Touch Me Not”). It was probably
inspired by Revolutionary War flags that featured rattlesnakes
and the motto, “Don’t Tread on Me.”
Alabama’s
first flag was never officially adopted and wasn’t flown
by many people. In fact, there was apparently just one
flag! It was flown until February 10, 1861, when it was
removed after it was damaged by a storm. The flag was
captured by Iowa troops in 1865 and was taken back to
Iowa, though it was later returned.
Alabama
also greeted a new national flag about a month after it
adopted its state flag. On February 18, 1861, Jefferson
Davis was inaugurated as president of the Confederacy.
From then until the end of the Civil War, Alabama was
represented by the flag of the Confederacy.
Alabama’s
current state flag was adopted on February 16, 1895.
It is the simplest of state flags, consisting of a crimson
cross of St. Andrew on a white field field, or background.
(New Mexico’s state flag is nearly as simple but would
be a little more difficult to draw.) Alabama is also the
only state besides Rhode Island with a square state flag.
Like
Florida’s flag, Alabama’s was inspired by the battle flags
of the Army of Northern Virginia. That was the army most
soldiers from both states fought for during the Civil
War.
Alabama’s
flag was designed while William Oates was Governor. Oates
was a former regimental commander in the Army of Northern
Virginia. He led the confederate assault on Little Round
Top at the Battle of Gettysburg.
State
Seal
In 1817, when Alabama was a territory, Governor Bib created
a seal consisting of a map of Alabama depicting the region’s
rivers, which were important transportation routes in
those days.
In 1819, Alabama became a state, and its territorial seal
became the state seal. Fifty years later, after the Civil
War, this seal was replaced by a new seal. It depicted
the shield of the United States seal and an eagle with
a scroll bearing the words “Here We Rest.”
This seal was used until 1939, when the legislature decided
to restore the original seal.
Coat
of Arms
Alabama
also adopted a coat of arms in 1939. The design features
three fleur de lis (stylized lilies) for France, a lion
(Spain), a silver saltire (Great Britain), a blue saltire
(the Confederacy), and a central design representing the
United States. The arms is supported by two bald eagles.
The
design is explained as representing “the flags of four
of the five nations which have at various times held sovereignty
over a part or the whole of what is now the state of Alabama:
Spain, France, Great Britain and the Confederacy. The
union binding these flags shall be the shield of the United
States. . . . The crest of the coat of arms shall be a
ship representing the ’Badine’ which brought the French
colonists who established the first permanent white settlements
in the state. Beneath the shield there shall be a scroll
containing the sentence in Latin: ’Audemus jura nostra
defendere,’ the English interpretation of which is ’We
Dare Maintain Our Rights.’”
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