| In 1879, state senator Herman H. Perry introduced legislation that gave
Georgia its first official state flag. Colonel Perry was a Confederate veteran, a fact
that probably influenced his proposal to take the Stars and Bars, remove the stars, extend
the blue canton to the bottom of the flag and narrow its width slightly.
The Stars and Bars flag of the Confederate States
The legislation provided no height vs. length dimensions, but it did stipulate that the
width of the blue band was to be one-third the length of the entire flag. Also, the red of
the flag was specified to be scarlet.
Why had Georgia finally adopted an official state flag? On the previous day, the 1879
General Assembly had passed a law rectifying state law regulating volunteer troops.
Included in the revision was a provision that: "Every battalion of volunteers shall
carry the flag of the State, when one is adopted by Act of the General Assembly, as its
battalion colors." Governor Colquitt approved Georgia's first official state flag on
October 17, 1879. |
