The current North Carolina state flag was adopted in 1885, replacing a design used during the Civil War. It features a red and white horizontal bar with a blue vertical bar on the left, displaying the letters NC and two dates. The original flag was similar, but with reversed colors and a white star. North Carolina was one of two Confederate states to issue official state flags. The current design has been in use since 1885, with minor changes made in 1991.
The North Carolina state flag as it is currently flown was adopted in March 1885. General Johnston Jones is credited with proposing the bill that changed the North Carolina state flag from its previous design, which represented North Carolina during the Civil War. The current flag of North Carolina displays a broad red horizontal bar at the top, above a broad white horizontal bar at the bottom. A blue vertical bar decorates the left side of the flag, and on this bar are superimposed the letters NC in gold, separated by a white star. Above these letters, a gold banner proclaims the date of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, May 20, 1775, in black lettering. A similar banner under the letters NC shows the date of Halifax Resolves, April 12, 1776.
The first person to suggest the adoption of a North Carolina state flag is believed to have been Colonel John D. Whitford. He is said to have proposed to him on May 20, 1861, the day North Carolina voted to secede from the United States of America and join the Confederate States of America. While the North Carolina Convention approved Whitford’s flag proposal, the group ultimately rejected his design. Instead, they accepted a design created by William Jarl Browne. This design was officially adopted by the North Carolina Convention on June 22, 1861 and remained in use until after the Civil War.
The original state flag of North Carolina is very similar in design to the current state flag of North Carolina. The position of the red and blue bars as they appear on the modern state flag has been reversed. The left vertical bar was red and the upper right horizontal bar was blue. The red vertical bar typically carried a white star.
Above this star was generally written the date of Mecklenburg’s Declaration of Independence, and below was generally written the date of North Carolina’s official succession from the United States, May 20, 1861. Historians believe that North Carolina was one of only two Confederate states to issue official state flags to its regiments during the American Civil War.
Most believe that the need for a new North Carolina state flag became clear when North Carolina rejoined the United States following the American Civil War. The state of North Carolina continues to use the basic flag design adopted in March 1885. An act of the state legislature in 1991 lengthened the state flag of North Carolina and removed the commas from the dates displayed on it.
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