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South Carolina (U.S.)

image by Mario Fabretto, 24 February 1998

History of the flag
1861 Flag for a day
SC Version of CSA Statement flag
Variations of the SC flag
State Military Crest

County and Municipal Flags of South Carolina

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South Carolina State and Secession Flags

One of the original 13 colonies, South Carolina is represented by a star and a stripe on the 13 star U.S. flags.

History of the flag

Asked by the Revolutionary Council of Safety in the fall of 1775 to design a flag for the use of South Carolina troops, Col. William Moultrie chose a blue that matched the color of their uniforms and a crescent that reproduced the silver emblem worn on the front of their caps.

South Carolina needed a national flag after it seceded from the Union on Dec. 20, 1860. The General Assembly considered a wide range of designs, but on Jan. 28, 1861, added the palmetto to Moultrie's original design. The palmetto represented the colonials defense of the palmetto-log fort on Sullivan's Island against the British on June 28, 1776.

A resolution proposing to change the color to "royal purple" as a memorial to Confederate dead was defeated in 1899, leaving the flag's Revolutionary War symbolism complete.
Robert Hainer, 9 April 1998

Actually there were SC flags with Palmetto trees on them prior to the Civil War. The SC Militia Act of 1839 specified flags of that type (sometimes on red fields as opposed to blue) and the Palmetto Regiment of the Mexican War carried flags of this nature in the mid-1840's.

At the beginning of the secession period of 1860-1861 there were indeed a number of designs submitted to the state committee. For a detailed account of these flags please see "A Flag Worthy Of Your State And People" by Wylma Wates. This was published by the SC Dept. of Archives And History.
Greg Biggs, 9 April 1998

1861 Flag for a day

image by Tom Gregg, 14 April 1998

Back in 1965, the Flag Bulletin published an article entitled "And the Ensign of South Carolina Shall Be ..." which stated that the legislature adopted a different Palmetto flag the day prior to the adoption of the present flag. It was blue with a crescent in the canton and a white oval in the center bearing a gold palmetto tree.
Dave Martucci, 9 April 1998

Adopted 26 January 1861 and superseded on 28 January by the present design.
Tom Gregg, 14 April 1998

Where do the Crescent and Tree come from on the South Carolina Flag?

Smith (1975a) dates the crescent to 1775 but gives no reason.
Al Kirsch, 13 June 2002

It was the symbol worn on the hats of South Carolina troops in the American Revolutionary War. Where they got it from I do not know. The Palmetto tree on the same flag is a tribute to the palmetto logs that were used to build Ft. Moultrie in the Rev War, which withstood bombardment by British warships quite well (palmetto is a soft wood and the cannon balls were pretty much absorbed). Another Confederate Civil War flag also used a crescent symbol - that of Gen. Earl Van Dorn's Army of the West. In this case it was an appeal to the patriotism of Missouri troops as the crescent was part of that state's coat of arms. For an example please visit the website Flags Of The Confederacy at www.confederateflags.org
Greg Biggs, 13 June 2002

I have heard, but can't remember the source, that the crescent originated from a remnant of a knights armor. British officers wore a metal crescent, often silver or gold plated on their chests, left over from a protective piece of armor over the heart area. General Cornwallis can be seen wearing this in the movie "The Patriot" and I have seen actual pieces in the national park museums at forts in South Carolina and Georgia. It has been reported that their appearance is from a cap device worn by South Carolina troops in the revolutionary war, but the origin of the cap device is probably from the uniform decoration.
Michael P. Smuda, 19 June 2002

I believe the metal crescent you refer to is called a gorget. However, a number of websites say the 1775 South Carolina flag designed by Moultrie was preceded by a 1765 blue flag with 3 crescents used during the protests against the Stamp Act. I could not find an explanation of why that was chosen. For example, see home.freeuk.com/gazkhan/blank_state.htm and www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/southcarolina/ and www.palmettopages.com/sc/facts/flag.html.
Ned Smith, 19 June 2002

The palmetto tree shows up on South Carolina militia colors officially in 1838 with their Militia Act.
Greg Biggs, 8 November 2002

If I'm not mistaken, the palmetto already appeared on the state seal before this time, which makes sense--as Greg pointed out in an earlier message, militia colors were typically the state "coat of arms" (i.e., seal or central design therefrom) on a blue field, modeled on the U.S. Army pattern of the national coat of arms on a blue field.
Joe McMillan, 8 November 2002

From the Admiral Preble book, "History and Origin of the American Flag, Volume One:"
"In 1765, when the stamp paper reached Charleston, it was deposited at Fort Johnson. A volunteer force took the fort and captured the paper. Whilst they held the fort, they displayed a flag showing a blue field with three white crescents, which seems to have been improvised by the volunteers, of whom there were three companies." [pp. 194]
This flag is also described here: www.netstate.com/states/symb/flags/sc_flag.htm.
John Evosevic, 8 November 2002

That design [of the crescent] isn't really a crescent moon, but an adaptation of the gorget - an item of personal protection for early soldiers - reduced to a symbol and used in the early times of defense in South Carolina history. The depiction on the flag of today is a derivation resulting from the age-old practice of designing and using flags without benefit of guidance, in that the points of this crescent have pointed in several directions through the years. Indeed, the final orientation of this crescent was a result of arbitrary choice instead of being based on historic positioning of the gorget upon the chest.
Bob Hunt, 25 July 2007

Is there any actual documentation for this? I believe that the use of crescents as SC symbols dates back to the time of the Stamp Act protests. A gorget (in the 18th century, anyway) was a ceremonial piece of an officer's uniform, worn on a chain around the neck and often suitably engraved. (There's a famous painting of young George Washington wearing one as colonel of the Virginia Regiment.) It's not too clear why the Stamp Act protestors would choose that for a symbol -- to them, army officers were the "bad guys!"
Peter Ansoff, 26 July 2007

The State of South Carolina publishes a little booklet called "A Flag Worthy Of Your State and People" by Wylma Wates. This covers the history of the crescent and palmetto symbols. According to this, the crescent was worn by South Carolina troops in the American War of Independence and this symbol inspired the first unit flags used by these troops - blue with a white crescent. The book does not state the origins of the crescent in the state/colony.

The palmetto tree comes from the war itself; the palmetto logs of Ft. Moultrie withstanding the bombardment by the British fleet at Charleston. Thus, a new symbol was added to the state's lexicon. It was also part of the state's Coat of Arms dated to the late 1770's I believe. The palmetto tree does not really show up on flags until the Nullification Crisis of the 1830's, when resistance flags with crescents and palmetto trees first star to appear. The state's own 1839 Militia Act sets the flag for state troops as being the crescent and palmetto emblems (the SC Relic Room & Museum has a flag of this period with these symbols - the Abbeville Dragoons). With the secession crisis of 1860-1861, these symbols are finally encoded as the official flag of the Republic of South Carolina after its secession from America in December, 1860. It, of course, remains the state's flag today. The palmetto tree is a much more known symbol in the state today than the crescent.
Greg Biggs, 26 July 2007

While the SC book indeed does not discuss the origins of the crescent used on the SC troops' hats, I think an examination of the evolution of body armor will disclose that the gorget originally was a large metal piece for breast protection, hanging from the neck (which is why the early crescents are depicted with the horns pointed upward). However, presumably as soldiers would be running (forward or to the rear?), that gorget would bang against their chests. Eventually, the common gorget was discontinued, but the design as a crescent was retained as a unit symbol. In the SC book there is a picture of the early troops with this symbol on their hats. This is the origin of the use of the crescent by Col William Moultrie when he designed the flag of that period.
Bob Hunt, 26 July 2007

The report of the 3-crescent flag in Preble's work admits use by a volunteer force. Who were these volunteers? Maybe they were volunteers from an assortment of military units which already used the crescent as their unit symbol; they may have used 3 such symbols to represent 3 units of the participants. This is conjecture. We cannot discount volunteer origins of flag designs, since all flags start with somebody making up some design. Use of many of the crescent variants in SC has been provided by testimony of other parties (and thus denied by some investigators who want harsher proof), rather than by the originators themselves (like Moultrie's written testimony after the fact). There's even some question as to whether he took his Ft. Johnson flag with him to the palmetto log fort; there may have been another variant in use at the log fort. BUT at least we have somebody saying "I did it" rather than saying "somebody else did it".
Bob Hunt, 28 July 2007

What's disputed (or at least questionable), is that the crescent on the SC flag was originally supposed to represent a gorget. This appears to be nothing but speculation. The SC crescent could just as easily have had a heraldic origin, for example. The crescent is a common heraldic symbol; in England it is the mark of cadency for a second son. Heraldic crescents are most often shown with the points upward which, as you mentioned earlier, is the way that they appeared on early SC flags.
Peter Ansoff, 30 July 2007

SC Version of CSA Statement flag

image by Rick Wyatt, 21 October 1998

Recently, I was in New Mexico and saw a house flying a flag that was half traditional confederate flag and half crescent moon with the shaded part facing out and what appeared to be a palm tree to the right of the crescent moon. The half with the moon and tree was on the left half, opposing the confederate flag. The colors were, as I recollect, a white background with green filling. I do not know the identity of this flag and am very curious. Any help you can offer me will be appreciated.
Steve Quick, 21 October 1998

This is definitely a cross between the Confederate and South Carolina flag. This is not an official anything. Ever since the movement to remove the confederate flag from the Georgia State flag, various flags have been made. I Ain't Coming Down, Heritage not Hate and "state" confederate flags. We sell the Confed/South Carolina and Confed/North Carolina. I suppose flags are a way of making a statement and some people are doing just that.
Rick Wyatt 21 October 1998

Other Variations of the SC Flag

image by John Evosevic, 8 November 2002

There is a proliferation of unofficial variants of the South Carolina flag. Last year, I purchased a T-shirt with a SC flag halved red over blue, the demarcation from the lower hoist to the upper fly. The girl in the shop explained that the flag was the "Citadel Flag," which is news to me, but it's still a nice looking flag illustration. All-red Citadel or "Big Red" flags are available as are the red auto tags: these are widely sold and displayed. I am not certain of the significance for those that display them on their cars - if it intended as a Confederate symbol, a symbol of The Citadel or both. It may be possible that this is intended as a covert symbol of Confederate heritage in light of the removal of the Confederate Battle Flag from the SC capitol dome. I've also seen more of the latter flags being flown in SC since then.

Similarly, the University of South Carolina seemed to have developed its own variation on the SC flag: One store had for sale a deep rose pink/lighter red over black SC flag also divided diagonally - in this case from the upper hoist to the lower fly. Another variation seemed to be for the Clemson fan: an all-orange SC flag that was available both as a flag and an auto tag.
John Evosevic, 15 November 2001

I thought I glimpsed this [red over blue] flag some months ago on a TV documentary about efforts to raise the Confederate submarine Hunley from Charleston harbor. A diagonally divided red and blue flag with a design that looked like the palmetto and crescent was flying from one of the ships supporting the operation.
Joe McMillan, 15 November 2001

"Variant" flags that appear with the diagonal colors have nothing to do with the Civil War. The state flag of South Carolina is a very popular emblem to put on merchandise around the state, particularly with colleges. Most colleges and universities in South Carolina have unofficial variants with their respective school colors on a diagonally divided flag with the "palmetto and crescent" in the 'foreground'. You can see samples of the University of South Carolina's flags on this page: http://www.columbiaflag.com/detail.cfm?ID=992695&storeid=1. So you get color combos as follows with the major universities:
University of South Carolina = "garnet and black"
Clemson University = "orange and purple"
Other smaller universities often have their colors used in a similar fashion. The Citadel is an exception. They have "Big Red" which is a similar variant, but with a more historic significance since The Citadel is a military college, and it of course lacks the diagonal feature of the other colleges. The flag may have its origins around the time of the Civil War, but the use of "Big Red" and other universities' colors on vanity tags, flags, and other accessories is purely out of support for one's university.
Other variants appear like pink and green, which I think is a sorority's colors. I'm not sure what the pink and red combination is, but I'm sure there is a logical reason for it. The red and purple flag that you have in your sample image appears to me to be a faded version of USC's "garnet and black" flag.
Scott, 12 March 2008

The diagonal flag is totally a privatized commercial phenomenon, so it doesn't matter of the school itself is public or private. The official school athletic clothing will not show these things, so they can be hard to find. However, any school can conceivably make one if they want. I have seen them for schools like Limestone College (in Gaffney, SC) as a large billboard, and even Furman. I have searched around and I can't find any images online of the smaller colleges, but there is no reason schools like SC State and perhaps Benedict wouldn't have them too. It just depends on what kind of support the independent merchandise dealers get from those schools. I have attached several different flags (e.g. see here) and imagery to show how these emblems are used to represent schools in SC. These are particularly popular as "tailgate" flags that are attachable to cars.
Scott, 15 March 2008

State Military Crest

image by Joe McMillan, 21 April 2000

The state military crest, which is the crest used in the coats of arms of units of the National Guard, as granted by the precursor organizations of what is now the Army Institute of Heraldry. The official Institute of Heraldry blazon is "Upon a mount vert a palmetto tree proper charged with a crescent argent."
Joe McMillan, 21 April 2000