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The flag of Florida consists of a red saltire (diagonal cross) on a white background, with the seal of Florida superimposed on the center. The design was approved by a popular referendum in 1900.

Contents 1 Description 2 History 3 Five Flags of Florida 4 External links

Chapter 15.012 of the Florida Statutes states that:

"The State Flag shall conform with standard commercial sizes and be of the following portions and descriptions: The seal of the state, in diameter one-half the hoist, shall occupy the center of a white ground. Red bars, in width one-fifth the hoist, shall extend from each corner towards the center, to the outer rim of the seal."

From 1868 to 1900, the flag of Florida was simply the seal of Florida on a white background. In the late 1890s, Governor Francis P. Fleming suggested that a red cross be added so that it would not appear to be a white flag of truce when hanging still on a flagpole.

Some have claimed that the cross is intended to recall the blue saltire of the Confederate Battle Flag. However, this view is not universal and there is no significant opposition to the current design within the state (as there has been in Georgia and Mississippi over their Confederate-style flags). Historically, the first Spanish flag over Florida was a red saltire ragulée (knotted) with a white background (the Burgundian Saltire). The flag of Alabama is a plain red saltire, as is Saint Patrick's Flag, which is incorporated into the Union Flag of the United Kingdom.

The term "Five Flags over Florida" usually refers to five nations that have exerted sovereignty over part of Florida: Spain, France, Great Britain, the United States, and the Confederacy have flown over Florida. At various times in its history, at least 16 different flags have flown over Florida or parts of Florida.[1]

• Official website
• Five Flags Over Florida
• FOTW site on Florida's flag

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