Brief History of the Georgia State Flag

The current Georgia flag has been in use since 2003, but the history of the Georgia flag goes back much further. In fact, the first official Georgia flag was adopted all the way back in 1777! Let’s take a look at the history of the Georgia flag and how it has changed over the years.

The first official Georgia flag was adopted on May 8, 1777. This flag featured 13 stripes, alternately red and white. In the upper left corner was a blue field with the Georgia coat of arms in the center.

This flag was used until January 2, 1861 when Georgia seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. The new Confederate States of America had its own flag, so the Georgia flag was no longer used.

Following the end of the Civil War, Georgia went through a period of Reconstruction. During this time, two different flags were used. The first was known as the “Reconstruction Era Flag” and featured 3 horizontal stripes (red, white, and red) with a small Union Jack in the upper left corner.

The second flag used during Reconstruction was known as the “1st National Flag of Georgia.” This flag was very similar to the current United States Flag and featured 13 red and white stripes along with a blue canton with a ring of stars surrounding a central star.

In 1879, following Reconstruction, a new state constitution was adopted and a new state flag was also adopted. This flag featured 3 horizontal stripes (red, white, and red) with a small gold circle in the center containing 5 crosses representing Saint Andrew’s Cross.

This flag was used until 1902 when a redesign was commissioned by Governor Allen Candler. The new design featured a larger Saint Andrew’s Cross on a blue field in the upper left corner with 5 smaller crosses inside it. The rest of the flag was divided into 3 horizontal stripes (red, white, and red).
In 1956, as part of the celebration of Atlanta’s 100th anniversary, Governor Marvin Griffin proposed a new state flag design that would feature elements from both the Confederate battle flag and Georgia’s original 1777flag. This design caused controversy and was never officially adopted as the state flag.
In 2001, Governor Roy Barnes commissioned another redesign of the state flag. The new design removed all references to the Confederacy and instead featured 5 Stripes (blue alternating with 4 white stripes) representing Georgia’s 5 geographic regions with a large gold Seal featuring the state coat of arms in the center surrounded by 13 stars representingGeorgia’s13 Colonies. Following protests from those who saw this design as too radical or who were opposed to any change to then-current flag, Barnes agreed to put his proposed redesign to a statewide referendum in 2002 which resulted in voters approving the new design by a margin of nearly 2-to-1.And that is how we got the newest iteration of the Georgia State Flag! Who knows what it will look like 100 years from now!

The current Georgia State Flag has been in use since 2002 after being approved by voters in a statewide referendum. However,the history of the Georgia State Flag goes back much further than that! The first official Georgia State Flag was adopted all the way back in 1777and there have been several different designs used over the years since then! Who knows what the future holds for the Georgia State Flag? We can only wait and see!