1. THE SPANISH BANNER OF CASTILE
AND LEON 1540-1630
Hernando DeSoto was the first to explore what is now Mississippi.
He and his men spent the winter in the northern part of the
state and discovered the Mississippi River in 1541. The flag
DeSoto used is the same flag carried by Columbus when he discovered
the New World, almost 50 years earlier. The flag was quartered
red and white with the golden castles of Castile and the red
lions of Leon. Spain later controlled the territory from 1779-1798
and flew the Bars of Aragon flag from 1785.
2. THE BOURBON FLAG OF FRANCE 1682-1763
France gained control of the territory along the Mississippi
River when LaSalle claimed the area in the name of Louis XIV
in 1682. The Bourbon flag of France that flew over this region
included three golden fleur-de-lis on a white field. The origin
of the Feur-de-lis is lost, but some say they are spearheads,
others say they are lilies brought from paradise. The French
were driven out of North America in 1763.
3. THE BRITISH RED ENSIGN 1763-1780
In 1707 Queen Anne changed the British flag from a combination
of the cross of St. George and the Cross of St. Andrew on
a blue field to a solid red flag with the crosses of St. George
and St. Andrew in a reduced fashion in the canton corner.
This flag was used throughout the American Revolution and
was flown over Mississippi when British gained control of
the areas from the French in 1763.
4. THE STAR SPANGLED-BANNER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
1798-1818
The United States flag was created in Congress on June 14,
1777. The first flag of 13 alternating red and white stripes
and white stars on a blue field was made by Betsy Ross in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Two additional stars and stripes
were later added to include Kentucky and Vermont. This flag
was raised in Mississippi in 1798.
5. BONNIE BLUE FLAG OF THE REPUBLIC OF WEST FLORIDA 1810
The Republic of West Florida was organized in 1810 after a
successful rebellion against Spain. The Bonnie Blue flag was
adopted and waved over Pass Christian and Pascagoula for 74
days. It was the pattern for the Texas Lone Star flag and
reappeared in 1861 during the War Between the States. The
design was one single white star centered on a blue background.
6. THE MAGNOLIA FLAG OF MISSISSIPPI
1861-1894
The Magnolia flag was authorized as the official flag of the
Sovereign Republic of Mississippi on January 26, 1861. This
flag used the Bonnie Blue design at the upper left with a
Magnolia tree in the center of a white background. After the
Civil War, the Magnolia flag was retained as the state flag
until 1894 when the present flag was adopted.
7. THE STARS AND BARS OF THE CONFEDERACY 1861-1865
The Stars and Bars, the first flag of the Confederacy, was
raised over Mississippi on March 27, 1861. The flag had seven
white stars on a blue background at the upper left with three
broad horizontal bars: two red and one white. The seven stars
represented the seven states that seceded at the time. Eventually
13 stars were included representing the states of the Confederacy.
TODAY'S OFFICIAL STATE FLAG
The committee to design a State Flag was appointed by legislative
action on February 7, 1894, and provided that the flag reported
by the committee should become the official flag. The committee
recommended for the flag "one with width two-thirds of
its length; with the union square, in width two-thirds of
the width of the flag; the ground of the union to be red and
a broad blue saltier thereon, bordered with white and emblazoned
with thirteen mullets or five-pointed stars, corresponding
with the number of the original States of the Union; the field
to be divided into three bars of equal width, the upper one
blue, the center one white, and the lower one extending the
whole length of the flag, red-the national colors; the staff
surmounted with a spearhead and a battle-axe below; the flag
to be fringed with gold, and the staff guilded with gold.
On April 17, 2001, the 107 year old flag became the official
state flag of Mississippi.
