If a picture’s worth a thousand words, a flag is a whole textbook.
Texas has seen six different nation flags fly over the state. The countries include Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America, and the United States of America.
Our state flag is a record of Texas history that experts read like a secret code. Every part carries some meaning, from hoist to fly end.
The colors
This one’s easy: The Texas flag shares its colors with the US flag and their meanings are identical:
- Red for courage
- White for purity + liberty
- Blue for loyalty
Fun fact: Some proposed Texas flags included green (for victory, borrowed from the Mexican flag) and gold.
The hoist
At the hoist end of the Texas flag — that is, the end near the flagstaff — a blue stripe bears the iconic Lone Star.
The current Lone Star flag was adopted in 1839, but the symbol represented Texan unity and independence decades before. The Jane Long Flag flown in 1819 may have been the star’s debut.
The field
According to the Texas Historical Society, our flag’s field (or background) borrows its parallel stripes from the Republic of Fredonia, representing an alliance between Anglo-Texan settlers and local Cherokee leaders.
Although the Fredonian Rebellion was unsuccessful, it set the stage for the Texas Revolution a decade later.
San Antonio’s Flag
Yes, the Alamo City has its own flag. Designed by Herring, the flag was created for the national convention of the United Spanish War Veterans held in San Antonio in 1935. The flag features the Alamo in the center of a white Lone Star of Texas.
The half blue represents loyalty, and the crimson red half represents the blood that courses through the veins of every loyal Texan. The flag’s design wasn’t formally adopted until 1976.
