deliriouslove1970. The life & times of Gary and Denise Flanders. (Free and worth every penny. If you would like to compliment the editor, send to garytheflan@deliriouslove1970.com. If you would like to complain, call your mother.)

The State of Florida. That state that looks like a dongle at the bottom of the contiguous United States.

The flag has been rated 34 out of 72 by NAVA. I would personally give it a C-. It breaks the rule of a ‘good flag’ by having the state seal and far too many words. In it’s current form it was approved in 1985. It consists of a red saltire on a white field with the state seal superimposed in the center. It has the words, “In God We Trust” of which only two other states have on their flags, Georgia and Mississippi.

It is an interesting study to visualize how the flag has changed over it’s history. The first controversial element would be the red saltire – the cross thingy. Some revisionist historians claim the red cross is in solidarity with other southern states during the time of the ‘Jim Crow’ laws (the ‘lost cause’ movement).

Other historians point out that the St Andrew’s cross and the Burgundy cross are the template for the flag. Both of those nations, England and Spain flew flags with that design over Florida during their rule.

Below are a progression of the flags that Florida has had.

The various flag versions were tied to the changes of the State Seal.

We lived in Winter Park Florida from 1982-1985. We fly the flag as part of our places we have lived collection.