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The Six Historical Flags of Texas

SPAIN
Spain's claim to Texas dates from 1519, when Alonso Alvarez de Pineda reached these shores. When Mexico won her independence from Spain in 1821, Spain ceased to rule over Texas. The Spanish flag of the time bore the symbols of the castle and lion for countries of Castile and Leon. These two lands had been united for over two hundred years when King Ferdinand, of Castile and Leon, married Isabella I of Aragon. With this marriage began the unity of Spain. Under Ferdinand and Isabella, Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492, briefly making Spain an empire "on which the sun never set."

FRANCE
France's claim to Texas never had as much authority as Spain's, and was much briefer. The flag of royalist France was probably planted in Texas soil by the French explorer La Salle in Fort St. Louis in 1685. However, the fort was gone after three years, and death prevented La Salle from carrying out King Louis XIV's plan for colonizing lands from the Mississippi to Mexico. France gave Louisiana to Spain in 1762, leaving no further doubt that her hold on Texas had ended. The golden symbols on the French flag of the time, called Fleur-de-Lis, represent lilies. In religion and art, the lily traditionally stands for purity. This symbol was favored by a long line of French kings.   It is also the basis for the Boy Scout Emblem.

MEXICO
The wandering Aztecs had a legend that they could not settle until they found a place on an island in a lake on which grew a cactus. On this cactus there would be an eagle holding a snake in its beak. The Aztecs came upon this strange sight in about 1325, and there built the city that Cortes would conquer in 1521. This Aztec symbol for what is now Mexico City was brought back into use after Mexico threw off Spanish rule in 1821. The vertical green, white, and red stripes are said to stand for independence, religion, and unity. This flag flew over Texas until 1836. The Alamo defenders fought under a modified version of it bearing the number 1824 to show that they were for Mexico only if the Constitution of 1824 were observed.

REPUBLIC OF TEXAS
Santa Anna once said: "The Texans flatter themselves they have a government, and are fighting under no recognized flag." Indeed, Texans fought for independence under banners of many symbols and colors. Not until three years after the Texas Revolution of 1836 did the Republic officially choose a national flag - not the first "Lone Star" flag design, but the most enduring. The colors red, white, and blue have the same meaning in both the Lone Star flag and the United States flag. Red stands for courage and bravery, white for purity and liberty, and the blue for loyalty. In 1839 part of the recommendation for the Texas flag read that white should stand for peace, red for war, and blue for friendship. However, this part of the proposal was not approved by the Texas Congress.

The Texas Flag Pledge: Honor the Texas Flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one and indivisible.

CONFEDERATE STATES
At the time the Confederacy adopted its flag in March, 1861, seven states out of the eventual eleven had joined the rebel government. Of these, Texas was the seventh and so is represented by one of the seven stars in the original Confederate flag. As other states joined, stars were added to represent them. However, the union made no change in the Stars and Stripes, and did not omit the stars on its flag which stood for the rebel states. The Stars and Bars proved to look too much like the Stars and Stripes from a distance. Soon the predominantly red "Southern Cross," which many people recognize today as the Battle Flag of the South, was created. Changes were made in the Stars and Bars to make it more recognizable from afar, but these had not been in effect long when the Confederacy laid down its arms in 1865.

UNITED STATES
In 1777 the American flag had 13 stars and 13 stripes. In 1795 it had 15 stars and 15 stripes. This flag was nicknamed the "Star-Spangled Banner." In 1818, after 5 more new states brought the total to 20, it became clear that the looks of the flag would someday be ruined if a star and a stripe were added for each new state. Thus on April 4th, 1818, Congress made it a law that the stripes should forever number 13, for the original colonies, and that for each new state admitted a star should be added the next Independence Day. Thus Texas's star, the twenty-eighth, was added July 4th, 1846. The American flag assumed its present form on Independence Day, 1960, when Hawaii's star, the fiftieth, was added. The Stars and Stripes is more than just a national flag for Americans. It is a symbol of the land and government that promise them freedoms and rights unmatched anywhere on earth.