The Atlanta Journal & Constitution
Sunday, Feb. 9, 1969

Run Up That 1879 Banner, She Asks

Continued from page 1 A

states, and in 1715 the skull and crossbones against a field of black -- The jolly Roger was flown along coastal Georgia by Edward Teach, better known as Black beard.  

Gen. James Oglethorpe, in the 1730's finally succeeded in prying the Spanish out of Georgia and the British flag prevailed. 

As the War of Independence between the colonies and the British approached, Georgians began flying a variety of "liberty" flags.  

After the British were chased out of Savannah in 1783, the American flag floated over Georgia.  

During the Civil War that began in 1860, many flags of many designs and colors flew over Georgia and with Georgia regiments fighting on soil of other Southern States. 

Of course, it was during the Civil War that the Bonnie Blue Flag began to lead Confederate troops.

After that war and when Georgia was readmitted to the United States, the Stars and Stripes again waved over the state.

ACTUALLY, THOUGH GEORGIA has had only three official flags, according to a brochure published by the office of the Secretary of State Ben Fortson.  

After the U.S. Constitutional Convention in 1787, where it was decided each state should have its own flag, the brochure said, "Georgia's selection was a flag of blue, emblematic of loyalty, with Georgia's coat of arms in the center--the arch of the Constitution with its three pillars: wisdom, justice and modernization.

That flag was made Georgia's official banner sometime after adoption of the Georgia seal in 1799. 

Then in 1879, the General Assembly adopted a flag "that shall have a a vertical band of blue next to the staff and occupying one-third of the entire flag; the remainder of the space shall be divided into three horizontal bands, the upper and lower of which shall be scarlet in color and the middle band white."

That's the flag replaced by Georgia's present banner, and the one Mrs. Merritt wishes to readopt. 

The present flag has the state coat of arms against a vertical blue field, which takes up one-third of the flag.  The other two-thirds display the Confederate stars and bars against a scarlet background.