Friday, May 6, 2016

Louisiana Flag And Its History

By Antuan Bernes


Louisiana has a long and varied history. The region was possibly visited by Cabeza de Vaca and his fellow survivors of a Spanish expedition of 1528, and it was certainly seen by some of De Soto's men (1541â€"42). In 1682, La Salle reached the mouth of the Mississippi and claimed for France all of the land drained by that river and its tributaries, naming it Louisiana after Louis XIV. Europeans did not permanently settle there until 1699, when Pierre le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, founded a settlement near Biloxi. This settlement became the seat of government for Louisiana, an enormous territory embracing the entire Mississippi drainage basin.

Thus, the history of the Louisiana Flag has several notable facts to relate about it. The design of the current Louisiana Flag has its origins in 1800. Louisiana was the 18th state to become a part of the Union in 1812.

With the acquisition of Louisiana, Jefferson nearly doubled the size of the fledgling U.S. and made it a world power. Later, 13 states or parts of states were carved out of the Louisiana Purchase territory.

However, this flag did not last forever. When Louis XV gave Louisiana to the Spanish in 1764, two new flags were introduced to New Orleans. Then in the early 1800’s the stars and stripes finally flew over New Orleans when it became part of the United States.

The blue color of the field is one that stands for truth. The eastern brown pelican depicted in white and gold is the state bird. It stands as a Louisianian symbol of self-sacrifice from the 1800's. The initial settlers learned that pelicans were kind and good parenting birds. It was believed that pelicans would tear their own flesh and feed the blood to their little ones in times of food scarcity.

The mother brown pelican is seen tearing at her breast with her beak. It is believed that when food was scarce a mother Pelican would tear off her own flesh to feed her babies rather than have them starve. The scene represents self-sacrifice. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of Louisiana Flag for the future.




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