SC historians settle on new Palmetto State flag

NOTE: The group includes a member of our community….(from the article) The group, which included acclaimed historian Walter Edgar and Department of Archives and History Director Eric Emerson, sought the help of archeologists and several museums to track down the earliest editions of the state flag.

***

COLUMBIA — A high-powered team of historians has done the research and determined what South Carolina’s state flag should look like once and for all.

Rest assured, not much is changing.

The flag will still feature a white Palmetto tree and crescent against an indigo blue backdrop, a combination of historically significant elements that makes South Carolina’s flag one of the most iconic banners in the country — and, arguably, one of the good ones.

But next year, lawmakers will have a chance to nail down details of the design that have been in flux since the last official flag specifications were repealed in 1940.

The height and shape of the tree in the flag’s center. The shade of indigo that colors the background. The thickness and angle of the crescent in the upper left hand corner — note: the crescent is not a moon, historians say.

All have been left to the creative imagination of individual designers in lieu of specifications set out in state law.

That’s why the Palmetto tree design on your ballcap might look skinnier than the one on your beer koozie. It’s why the crescent on the flag atop the Statehouse dome might point a different direction than the one on your front porch flag.

But no more.

To read more from the Post and Courier