Flags That Have Flown Over Georgia: The History of the Georgia State Flag

Georgia State Flag, 1879-1902

In 1879, state senator Herman H. Perry introduced legislation giving 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 legislation provided no height vs. length dimensions, but it did stipulate 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.