The state flag of South Carolina
was officially adopted in 1861. It has a white
crescent moon and a white palmetto tree on a
blue ground. Three white crescent moons (on
a blue background) were first used on a South
Carolina banner protesting the Stamp Act in
1765. In 1775, Colonel William Moultrie designed
a banner for South Carolina troops; it had a
white crescent moon on a blue field. When South
Carolina seceded from the Union, the palmetto
tree was added to the flag. The palmetto tree
was chosen because this tree had helped South
Carolinians defeat the British in a battle at
Sullivan's Island (during the Revolutionary
War). The South Carolinians built a fort out
of palmetto wood, and when the British fired
cannonballs at the fort, instead of knocking
the fort down, the soft palmetto wood just absorbed
the cannonballs.
Capital: Columbia
Nickname: Palmetto State
Mottoes: Animis opibusque
parati (Prepared in mind and resources) and
Dum spiro spero (While I breathe, I hope)
Flower: Carolina Yellow Jessamine
(1924)
South Carolina was the 8th state in the USA;
it was admitted in 1788.
For more information about South Carolina click
here. |
