Flag of Alabama
Use | Civil and state flag |
---|---|
Proportion | 2:3 (by convention) |
Adopted | February 16, 1895 |
Design | A crimson cross of St. Andrew on a white field. |
governor of Alabama | |
Use | State flag |
Design | The State Flag with the state military crest and coat of arms of Alabama in the lower and upper sections |
The current flag of Alabama (the second in
"The flag of the State of Alabama shall be a crimson cross of St. Andrew on a field of white. The bars forming the cross shall be not less than six inches broad, and must extend diagonally across the flag from side to side." – (Code 1896, §3751; Code 1907, §2058; Code 1923, §2995; Code 1940, T. 55, §5.)
The cross of St. Andrew referred to in the law is a diagonal cross, known in vexillology as a saltire. Because the bars must be at least six inches (150 mm) wide, small representations of the Alabama flag do not meet the legal definition. In 2001, a survey conducted by the North American Vexillological Association ranked Alabama's state flag 29th in design quality of the 72 Canadian provincial, U.S. state and U.S. territorial flags.[3] There are sources that believe the saltire was intended to memorialize the Confederacy, but no legislative records indicate the inspiration for the flag.
History
1861 flag
On January 11, 1861, the Alabama Secession Convention passed a resolution designating an official flag. Designed by several women from
Current flag
Alabama's current flag was adopted in 1895. The legislation introduced by Representative John W. A. Sanford Jr. stipulates: "The flag of the state of Alabama shall be a crimson cross of St. Andrew on a field of white. The bars forming the cross shall be not less than six inches broad, and must extend diagonally across the flag from side to side."[6] St. Andrew's cross represents the cross on which St. Andrew was crucified.[7]
The legislation that created the state flag did not specify that the flag was to be square but defined the width of the bars of the cross.[1] In 1987, the office of Alabama Attorney General Don Siegelman stated in a letter that the proper shape of the state flag is rectangular, as it had been depicted numerous times in official publications and reproductions.[8] Despite this, the flag is still often depicted as being square, even in official publications of the U.S. federal government.[9]
The saltire of Alabama's flag most closely resembles the saltire of the
Alabama adopted its flag design in 1895, five years earlier than Florida did.
Theories on origin
The inspiration for Alabama's flag is not known. Many have noted that a saltire also appears in flags used decades earlier by the Confederate States of America, a group of states, including Alabama, that declared secession and warred against the United States during the American Civil War. No documentation in the legislative records indicates the Alabama flag was intended to commemorate the Confederacy.[11]
Still, various people have asserted over the decades that the design was drawn from the Confederate battle flag.[10]
In 1900, the
In 1924, Bell Allen Ross, a member of the
In an 1987 letter, Alabama Attorney General Don Siegelman wrote that the flag was modeled after Sanford's 60th Alabama Infantry Regiment battle flag.[8]
More recent commentators note that the Alabama flag was adopted during a period of promotion of the "
But other contemporary commentators, such as Steve Murray, Director of the Alabama Department of History and Archives, believe the origins of the flag are unclear.
Governor's flag
The flag of the
See also
References
- ^ a b "Official Symbols and Emblems of Alabama: State Flag of Alabama". Alabama Department of Archives & History. Archived from the original on July 28, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
- ^ "State and National Laws". Birmingham age-herald. July 11, 1895. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
- ^ "2001 State/Provincial Flag Survey - NAVA.org" (PDF). nava.org.
- ^ Bradley, Robert B. (2000). "Flags of the Confederacy – Flags of Alabama". Flags of the Confederacy. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
- ^ a b Alabama Department of Archives & History (2001). "The Secession Convention Flag". Archived from the original on January 15, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
- ^ Code of 69 (1975) § 1-2-5
- ^ New York Times. March 28, 1906. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
- ^ a b Siegelman, Don (1987). "Opinion of Don Siegelman" (PDF). Office of the Attorney General of the State of Alabama. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 14, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
- ^ "Our Flag" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 5, 2010.
- ^ a b Mignanelli, Nicholas; Slinger, Sarah (2020). "A Matter for Interpretation: An Inquiry into Confederate Symbolism and the Florida State Flag". University of Miami Race and Social Justice Law Review. 10 (2): 126–129, 134–137. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
- ^ a b Williams, Dave (September 17, 2000). "Flag debate spreading across Deep South". Savannah Morning News. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
- ^ "The Flag of Alabama". Huntsville Weekly Democrat. December 12, 1900. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
- ^ McAdory Owen, Thomas (1921). History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. Vol. 1. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. p. 592.
- National Geographic Magazine. Vol 32. No. 4, pp. 281–420 (October 1917).
- ^ Alabama Department of Archives & History (2007). "Flag: Hilliard's Legion". Archived from the original on March 29, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
- ^ "Interesting Facts Regarding Alabama Flag". Anniston Star. December 14, 1924. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
- ISBN 0-674-01983-0. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2022.throughout the South.
The flag changes in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida coincided with the passage of formal Jim Crow segregation laws
- ^ Ingraham, Christopher (June 21, 2015). "How the Confederacy lives on in the flags of seven Southern states". Washington Post. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Historical record thin on specifics regarding Alabama's flag design". WAFF (TV). June 30, 2020. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
External links
- Alabama State Flag Archived January 6, 2019, at the Wayback Machine at the Alabama Department of Archives & History
- written account of the flag in 1987 by Don Siegelman, Alabama Attorney General