Brief History of the Louisiana State Flag

The Louisiana flag has a colorful history that is steeped in the state’s French and Spanish heritage. The flag has gone through several iterations, with the most recent design being adopted in 2006. Keep reading to learn more about the history of the Louisiana flag!

The first recorded flag of Louisiana was flown by French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville when he claimed the territory for France in 1699. This flag was a white banner with a fleur-de-lis in the center.

After France ceded the territory to Spain in 1763, the Spanish flag—a red cross on a white background—was flown over Louisiana. In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte sold the territory to the United States, and the American flag became official.

However, there was still a desire for a distinctive flag for the state of Louisiana. In 1812, Madame de la Marquise de Rougé designed a flag inspired by the French tricolor. It featured three vertical bands of blue, white, and red. This design was unofficial but widely used until 1861, when Louisiana seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America.

The Confederate States of America had its own flag, which featured stars for each member state. Louisiana’s specific design featured a single star for Baton Rouge and two stars for New Orleans—one for each major city at the time. After the Civil War ended in 1865, Louisiana briefly returned to using Madame de la Marquise de Rougé’s tricolor design until it adopted its current flag in 1912.

The current Louisiana flag features a pelican feeding her young in a nest beneath a mother oak tree. This image is symbolic of both self-sacrifice and strength. Above the image are thirteen gold stars on a field of blue, representing both Louisiana’s status as the thirteenth state to join the Union and its inclusion as part of the Lyndon Johnson-era “Great Society” initiative.

The Louisiana flag has undergone several changes over the years, but its current design is a beautiful reflection of the state’s unique history and culture. From its early days as a French colony to its time as part of the Confederacy, Louisiana has always had its own distinct identity—and that is perfectly represented by its flag.