Flag of South Carolina
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| Name | The Palmetto State |
|---|---|
| Use | Civil and state flag |
| Adopted | January 28, 1861 |
| Design | White palmetto tree on an indigo field. The canton contains a white crescent (gorget). |
The flag of the U.S. state of South Carolina has existed in some form since 1775, being based on one of the first Revolutionary War flags. South Carolina's flag was ranked as the 10th best designed state or provincial flag in North America by a non-scientific poll on the website of the North American Vexillological Association in 2001.
In 1775, Colonel William Moultrie was asked by the Revolutionary Council of Safety to design a flag for the South Carolina troops to use during the American Revolutionary War. Moultrie's design had the blue of the militia's uniforms and the crescent. It was first flown at Fort Johnson. This flag was flown in the defense of a new fortress on Sullivan's Island, when Moultrie faced off against a British fleet that had not lost a battle in a century.
However, there is much debate about the significance of the crescent. In 1775 Colonel William Moultrie was asked by the "Revolutionary Council of Safety" to design a flag for the South Carolina troops. In his memoirs, Colonel Wiliam Moultrie tells us: "A little time after we were in possession of Fort Johnson, it was thought necessary to have a flag for the purpose of signals: (as there was no national or state flag at that time) I was desired by the council of safety to have one made, upon which, as the state troops were clothed in blue, and the fort was garrisoned by the first and second regiments, who wore a silver crescent on the front of their caps; I had a large blue flag made with a crescent in the dexter corner, to be in uniform with the troops ..."In the 16-hour battle on June 28, 1776, the flag was shot down, but Sergeant William Jasper ran out into the open, raising it and rallying the troops until it could be mounted again". This gesture was so heroic, saving Charleston, South Carolina, from conquest for four years, that the flag came to be the symbol of the Revolution, and liberty, in the state and the new nation.
Soon popularly known as either the Liberty Flag or Moultrie Flag, it became the standard of the South Carolinian militia, and was presented in Charleston, by Major General Nathanael Greene, when that city was liberated at the end of the war. Greene described it as having been the first American flag to fly over the South.
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