Present Georgia Flag

The 6th Georgia State Flag 1956 - 2001

State Democratic party chairman in 1956, John Sammons Bell, designed this flag.

The state seal is in black and white on the side nearest the flagpole. The state seal shows three pillars standing for the three branches of government, wrapped in ribbons that express the ideas of the Constitution - wisdom, justice, and moderation.

The pillars support an arch that bears the word, "Constitution." The remaining area of the flag prominently presents a replica of the Confederate Battle Flag.

Georgia Seal
This is the Seal that is on the flag

At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, it was agreed that each state, while loyal to the United States flag, should also have its own flag.

After the Georgia Seal was adopted in 1799, the first state flag was designed with the Seal centered on a field of blue.

In 1879, the General Assembly of Georgia passed an act changing the flag to a vertical band of blue occupying one third of the flag nearest the staff and the remainder divided into three horizontal bands with the upper and lower in red and the middle in white.

In 1905 the state Seal was added to the vertical blue band.

The 1956 state flag was designed by John Sammons Bell, an Atlanta attorney, and was adopted as the official flag of Georgia in 1956. One third of the flag nearest the staff is a vertical band of blue displaying the Georgia coat-of-arms. The remainder of the flag is the Battle Flag of the Confederacy.

The Secretary of State is designated by law as the official custodian of the state flag.

 

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  • 1956:  Georgia Legislature adopted a new state flag that incorporated the Confederate battle emblem.
  • 1969:  State legislator from South Georgia, Jane Merritt, begins an unsuccessful, four-year effort to remove the Confederate emblem, calling it an embarrassing symbol of segregation.
  • 1987:  State legislator from Dekalb County, Frank Redding, introduced legislation to restore the pre-1956 flag. 
  • 1988:  The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People began a lobbying effort and gathered 16,000 signatures on petitions urging that the flag be changed.
  • May 1992:  Gov. Zell Miller made a surprise announcement that he would push legislation to restore the pre-1956 flag.   He called the flag "the last remaining vestige of days that are not only gone, but also days that we have no right to be proud of."
  • January 1993:  Governor Miller urged lawmakers to change the flag in his annual State of the State address to the General assembly.
  • March 1993:  Governor Miller abandoned his effort, conceding that "the votes are simply not here to pass my bill.  In fact, it is not even close." 
  • January 1994:  Hundreds of reporters in Atlanta for the Super Bowl gave wide coverage to the latest protest against the flag.   A Georgia State University poll showed nearly six out of 10 Georgians opposed the change in the summer of 1992, shortly after Miller launched his unsuccessful effort.
  • November 1994:  James Coleman filed a lawsuit against the state, asking a federal judge to order the state to take the Confederate emblem off the state flag.
  • January 1996:  U.S. District Judge, Orinda Evans, dismissed Coleman's case, but made this statement:  "While it is regrettable that the state has adopted as its state flag a symbol which creates controversy and discontent in the minds of many, resolution of this matter ultimately must rest in the hands of the General Assembly of Georgia rather than in this court."
  • 1997:  James Coleman appealed the ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.  Three judges dismissed the lawsuit, with the statement:  "We recognize that the Georgia flag conveys mixed meanings.  To some it honors those who fought in the Civil War, and to others it flies as a symbol of oppression.  But because the Confederate battle flag emblem offends many Georgians, it has in our view no place as the official state flag."
  • February 1997:  New York state removes the Georgia state flag from the Capitol. New York Governor George Pataki said the flag contained a "symbol of hatred" for all Americans.
  • April 1999:  Georgia state officials were urged to  change the Georgia state flag by a group of about 30 led by Rev. Joseph Lowery, former head of the Southern leadership Conference, and State Rep. Tyrone Brooks. 
  • January 30, 2000:  Before the Super Bowl game, About 100 people marched outside the Georgia dome to protest the Georgia state flag.  The demonstrators threatened an economic boycott of Georgia similar to the NAACP's boycott of South Carolina.

Reference:
The Atlanta Constitution; January 29, 1994.