Flag of North Carolina
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| Use | Civil and state flag |
|---|---|
| Adopted | June 24, 1991 (original adopted in March 1885) |
| Design | A blue union, containing in the center thereof a white star with the letter "N" in gilt on the left and the letter "C" in gilt on the right of said star, the circle containing the same to be one-third the width of the union. |
| Designed by | Johnston Jones |
The flag of the state of North Carolina is defined by law as follows
It bears the dates of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence (May 20, 1775) and of the Halifax Resolves (April 12, 1776), documents that place North Carolina at the forefront of the American independence movement. Both dates also appear on the Great Seal of North Carolina.
A former Confederate soldier and then state Adjutant General, Johnston Jones, introduced the bill which led the state legislature to adopt this flag in March 1885 to replace the flag that had been adopted on June 22, 1861, immediately following the state's declaration of secession from the Union on May 20, 1861. The red field of the old flag was replaced by a blue field. This was the first and only flag formally representing the state of North Carolina and is not considered to be a Confederate Flag, but rather the first state flag.
During the American Civil War, secessionist leaders spoke of the Mecklenburg Declaration with reverence, attempting to connect it with the state's joining the Confederacy. Confederate leader Jefferson Davis spoke to a Charlotte crowd in September 1864 saying "people of this section were the first to defy British authority and declare themselves free" encouraging them to continue backing the Confederacy's civil war effort.
The General Assembly of North Carolina adopted an official salute to the flag in 2007. It reads:
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