Georgia (U.S.)

Last modified: 2003-05-17 by rick wyatt
Keywords: georgia | united states |
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by Ed Jackson, 7 May 2003
Adopted 8 May 2003

See also:

• Atlanta
• DeKalb County
• Hahira
• Pierce County
• Turner County
• "Flags that have flown over Georgia" site
• United States of America
• States of the United States

One of the original 13 colonies, Georgia is represented by a star and a stripe on the 13 star U.S. flags.

Note: A referendum will be held at the same time as the presidential primary in 2004. The voters get to choose between the 2001 flag and the new 2003 flag. There is not an option for restoration of the 1956 flag.

Excerpted from The Augusta Chronicle:

Athens man aided flag design
Tuesday, May 6, 2003 By Kate Carter

Late last month, with only two days left in the state legislative session, Ed Jackson, a University of Georgia expert on flag design, delivered some bad news to the Senate. He told the Republican-controlled body that the compromise flag under consideration, featuring the state coat of arms on a blue field in the top left corner and three red-and-white stripes, would be two feet longer than any other flag produced in the United States.

Mr. Jackson said a six-hour debate. In the end, the Senate and then the House approved the amendment, and the state of Georgia was saved from having an awkward flag. Nearly two weeks later, Mr. Jackson has finished creating the specifications for the new state flag and is waiting for Gov. Sonny Perdue to sign the bill.

Mr. Jackson, a flag junkie whose office Monday had dozens of flag designs on the floor underneath the desk, faced numerous challenges while designing a flag that would be both historically accurate and aesthetically pleasing. The state seal that comprises part of the new flag was one such challenge. The official seal, kept in the secretary of state's office, was last updated in 1914 and has worn so much that the details - such as the soldier and the arch in the coat of arms that comprise part of the seal - are impossible to discern.

So Mr. Jackson did research and discovered that in various replications of the coat of arms over the last 200 years, sometimes the soldier faced left, and sometimes the soldier faced right. Some had a funny hat, some had none. Mr. Jackson then perused books from the Revolutionary War and settled on a soldier wearing a hat, which seemed historically accurate.

Section 1(a)

"The flag of the State of Georgia shall consist of a square canton on a field of three horizontal bands of equal width. The top and bottom bands shall be scarlet and the center band white. The bottom band shall extend the entire length of the flag, while the center and top bands shall extend from the canton to the fly end of the flag. The canton of the flag shall consist of a square of blue the width of two of the bands, in the upper left of the hoist of the flag. In the center of the canton shall be placed a representation in gold of the coat of arms of Georgia as shown in the center of the obverse of the Great Seal of the State of Georgia adopted in 1799 and amended in 1914. Centered immediately beneath the coat of arms shall be the words 'IN GOD WE TRUST' in capital letters. The coat of arms and wording 'IN GOD WE TRUST' shall be encircled by 13 white five-pointed stars, representing Georgia and the 12 other original states that formed the United States of America. Official specifications of the flag, including color identification system, type sizes and fonts, and overall dimensions, shall be established by the Secretary of State, who pursuant to Code Section 50-3-4 serves as custodian of the state flag."

by Andy Weir, 5 February 2001

50-3-30.
(a) The Secretary of State shall keep the great seal of the state adopted August 17, 1914, and on deposit in the office of the Secretary of State. The seal shall be either of silver or of some harder and more durable metal or composition of metals, 2 1/4 inches in diameter.

(b) The device on one side is a view of the seashore, with a ship bearing the flag of the United States riding at anchor near a wharf, receiving on board hogsheads of tobacco and bales of cotton, emblematic of the exports of this state; at a small distance a boat, landing from the interior of the state, with hogsheads, etc., on board, representing the state's internal traffic; in the back part of the same side a man in the act of plowing; and at a small distance a flock of sheep in different postures, shaded by a flourishing tree. The motto inscribed thereon is "Agriculture and Commerce, 1776."

(c) The device on the other side is three pillars supporting an arch, with the word "Constitution" engraved within the same, emblematic of the Constitution, supported by the three departments of government, namely the legislative, judicial, and executive. The first pillar has engraved upon it "Wisdom," the second, "Justice," the third, "Moderation"; on the right of the last pillar a man stands with a drawn sword, representing the aid of the military in the defense of the Constitution, and the motto is "State of Georgia, 1776."
Joe McMillan, 10 February 2000

"I pledge allegiance to the Georgia flag and to the principles for which it stands: Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation."
Joe McMillan, 13 August 1999

by Joe McMillan, 21 April 2000

The state military crest, which is the crest used in the coats of arms of units of the National Guard, as granted by the precursor organizations of what is now the Army Institute of Heraldry. The official Institute of Heraldry blazon is "A boar's head erased gules, in the mouth an oak branch vert fructed or. [This is based on the arms of the founder of the colony of Georgia, James Oglethorpe.]"
Joe McMillan, 21 April 2000