Bonnie Blue flag
The Bonnie Blue Flag, a single white star on a blue field, was the flag of the short-lived Republic of West Florida. In September 1810, settlers in the Spanish territory of West Florida revolted against the Spanish government and proclaimed an independent republic. The Bonnie Blue Flag was raised at the Spanish fort in Baton Rouge on September 23, 1810. In December, West Florida was annexed by the United States and the republic ceased to exist, after a life of 74 days.
Influence on other flags
In 1835, the largest group of volunteers who came to Texas to help the Texans fight for their independence was from Louisiana [citation needed]. They came and fought under the Bonnie Blue Flag of the former Republic of West Florida. The Bonnie Blue in turn served as the inspiration for the original flag of Texas, known as the Burnet Flag. The Burnet Flag was identical to the Bonnie Blue except that the star was yellow. (Variants of the Burnet Flag with a white star, virtually identical to the Bonnie Blue, were also common.) It was replaced in 1839 by the currently-used Lone Star Flag, which also bears a single star. That's why many Louisianians like to say, "We hung the star over Texas!" [citation needed]
The single star of the Bonnie Blue Flag was also the inspiration for the red star in the 1846 Bear Flag of California.
Civil War usage
The original territory of West Florida was divided up among four Southern states: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. When Mississippi seceded from the Union on January 9, 1861, as a sign of independence, the Bonnie Blue Flag was raised over the capitol building in Jackson. An Ulster immigrant named Harry McCarthy was present, and later wrote "The Bonnie Blue Flag" ("bonnie" being a Scottish word meaning "beautiful") which became a popular marching song, and led to the flag being used as an unofficial flag of the Confederate States of America. Typically, the refrain is:
- Hurray! Hurrah!
- For Southern Rights, Hurrah!
- Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag
- That bears a Single Star!
On January 26, 1861, Mississippi officially adopted a new flag, which included the Bonnie Blue Flag in its canton and a magnolia tree in its center field (known as the Magnolia Flag).
Current usage
The flag is still used to represent the South, and for some is a way of representing favor for the doctrine of states' rights. Since the flag pre-dates the Civil War and is not associated with slavery, it is considered to be a less-offensive alternative to the Confederate Battle Flag.
Today, the flag flies in most of the Florida Parishes of Louisiana, and is used along Interstate 12, which has been designated the "Republic of West Florida Parkway".
Popular culture
In the 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell and the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, Rhett Butler decides to call his newborn daughter "Bonnie Blue Butler" when Melanie Wilkes remarks that her eyes are "as blue as the Bonnie Blue Flag".
See also
External links
- Flags of Mississippi
- Flags of Florida
- The U.S. Takeover of West Florida
- West Florida by Ann Gilbert
- History of the flag at the Republic of West Florida Historical Museum.