Monday 9 May 2016

By Antuan Bernes


Louisiana has a long and varied history. The region was possibly visited by Cabeza de Vaca and his fellow survivors of a Spanish expedition of 1528, and it was certainly seen by some of De Soto's men (1541รข€"42). In 1682, La Salle reached the mouth of the Mississippi and claimed for France all of the land drained by that river and its tributaries, naming it Louisiana after Louis XIV. Europeans did not permanently settle there until 1699, when Pierre le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, founded a settlement near Biloxi. This settlement became the seat of government for Louisiana, an enormous territory embracing the entire Mississippi drainage basin.

Thus, the history of the Louisiana Flag has several notable facts to relate about it. The design of the current Louisiana Flag has its origins in 1800. Louisiana was the 18th state to become a part of the Union in 1812.

During the years 1861 and 1865, Louisiana used the Confederate National Flags as it was a member of the Confederate States. The present Louisiana Flag was adopted in 1912 by the Louisiana State Legislature as the official flag.

The Louisiana Flag has a solid blue background, with a simple form of the state seal depicted in the center. On the seal, there is an eastern brown pelican mother on a nest with 3 baby pelicans nestled close to it. The state motto that says " Union, Justice and Confidence", is written on a white ribbon, just beneath the seal.

After over a century of an unofficial pelican flag as the state flag, they finally adopted it in 1912 as the official flag of Louisiana that still flies today. The white pelican sits in the center of a dark blue flag with a scroll beneath its feet. Three baby pelicans, looking up, rest at the feet of the larger one.

The mother brown pelican is seen tearing at her breast with her beak. It is believed that when food was scarce a mother Pelican would tear off her own flesh to feed her babies rather than have them starve. The scene represents self-sacrifice. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of Louisiana Flag for the future.




About the Author:



0 comments :

Post a Comment