Flag of Florida

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The Flag of the State of Florida

The Flag of the State of Florida consists of a red saltire (diagonal cross) on a white background, with the seal of Florida superimposed on the center. The design was approved by a popular referendum in 1900. The flag design has been in use since 1985, after the state seal was modified and officially sanctioned for use by state officials.

[edit] History

Flag of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, which included Florida. It flew over Florida 1565–1763 and 1784-1821.^[1]^[2]

From 1868 to 1900, the flag of Florida was simply the seal of Florida on a white background. In the late 1890s, Governor Francis P. Fleming suggested that a red cross be added so that it would not appear to be a white flag of retreat hanging still on a flagpole. In discrepancy however, the State seal of 1868 itself depicts a steamboat with a white flag and a red cross or saltire, similar to Florida's current flag or that of the Spanish Cross of Burgundy. The current design also resembles the Cross of Burgundy flag (historical flag of Spain and the Spanish Empire), which was used in Florida since at least 1565, and possibly since the naming of Florida in 1513 (the flag was used by Spain since 1506). This design is over 500 years old, predating the flag of the United States by over 200 years.

[edit] Five Flags of Florida

The term "Five Flags over Florida" usually refers to the five governments that have exerted sovereignty over all or part of Florida: the flags of Spain, France, Great Britain, the United States, and the Confederacy have flown over Florida. At various times in its history, at least 16 different flags have flown over Florida or parts of Florida.^[1]