onsisted of a blue field with a single white star at its center. North Carolinians recognized this as their national flag, although in some areas other designs of Confederate flags-such as one with a white field, a red canton, and a blue Saint Andrew's cross with white stars-were flown. The familiar Stars and Stripes returned as the national flag when North Carolina was readmitted to the Union in 1868.
In 1885 a new model for the North Carolina state flag was adopted by the legislature, and this version has flown unchanged over the state since that year. The flag features a blue union containing a white star in the center with a gilt N on the left and a gilt C on the right, the letters' height measuring about one-third the width of the union. The 1885 legislature directed that "the fly of the flag shall consist of two equally proportioned bars; the upper bar to be red, the lower to be white." As to proportions, it directed 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." Above the star in the center of the union is a gilt scroll in semicircular form with the date "May 20th, 1775," and below the star is a similar scroll with the date "April 12th, 1776." The latter date replaced the secession date and commemorates the Halifax Resolves, which represented the first official statement by an American colony calling for a united declaration of independence from British rule.
Devereaux D. Cannon Jr., The Flags of the Confederacy: An Illustrated History (1988).
William R. Edmonds, The North Carolina State Flag (rev. ed., 1962).
"An act to establish a State flag." Laws and resolutions of the State of North Carolina, passed by the General Assembly at its session of 1885. Raleigh [N.C.]: P.M. Hale. p. 539. http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p249901coll22,200516 (accessed October 30, 2012).
Edmonds, W. R. "North Carolina state flag." Raleigh, N.C.: Edwards and Broughton. 1913. http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p249901coll22,20643 (accessed October 30, 2012).
Battle, Kemp P. "The Secession Convention of 1861" The North Carolma Booklet 15. No. 4. APRIL, 1916. http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p249901coll37,14079
The state flag of North Carolina. Photograph courtesy of North Carolina Division of Tourism, Film, and Sports Development.
1 January 2006 | Shaw, Taylor; Smith, David C.