The Texas Flag: History & Meaning

Learn about the history of the Texas state flag, which was once the flag of the unbiased Republic of Texas. Each part of the Lone Star Flag represents something about Texas. The Flag Code of Texas describes how the flag have to be treated.
The Lone Star State and the Lone Star Flag
Texas is known as the ‘Lone Star State’ – but did you know that the nickname comes from the Texas flag? The iconic Lone Star Flag is a symbol of Texas pride, but it wasn’t really the first flag of Texas. In this lesson, we’ll go over the history of the Lone Star Flag and the other flags that have represented Texas over the years.

Lesson Quiz Course
12K views
The History of the Texas Flag
Earlier than it was part of the USA, Texas was ruled first by Spain, then by France, and then by Mexico. As a Spanish possession between 1519 and 1685, Texas formally used the Spanish flag. The Spanish flag has red stripes along the top and backside edge, with a thicker yellow stripe in the middle. On the left-hand side is the arms of Castile and Leon.

From 1684 to 1690, Texas flew the flag of the Kingdom of France, which featured gold fleurs-de-lys on a white background. Between 1690 and 1821, Texas reverted to Spanish possession and the Spanish flag. Then in 1821, Texas became part of Mexico and flew the Mexican flag until 1836, when the Republic of Texas declared its independence.

In December of 1836, the Congress of the Republic of Texas approved the National Customary of Texas. This flag was simple but striking: it featured a yellow star in the middle of a dark blue background.

That was the flag of Texas until 1839. In January 1939, the Texas Congress approved a new flag, with the identical colors as the US flag but a different design. On the new flag, there is a bar of dark blue running along the left-hand side, with one white star within the middle. On the rest of the flag, the top half is white and the decrease half is red. Because it has only one star, this flag is known as the Lone Star Flag.

The Lone Star Flag was the flag of the Republic of Texas till Texas grew to become a US state in 1845. At that point, the United States flag officially turned the national flag of Texas, but the state kept the Lone Star Flag as a state flag. The Texas state flag is the only US state flag that was the flag of a separate sovereign nation.

If you liked this article and you would like to obtain even more facts relating to state of Texas flags kindly browse through the page.

Comments are closed.

Post Navigation