Palmetto State takes another crack at state flag redesign

They’re at it again here in the Palmetto State. A team of historians went back to the drawing board to try and redesign South Carolina’s new state flag.

This time, they are putting forth two options for our S.C. lawmakers to consider approving. The main complaint about the first design proposal was that the palmetto tree looked awful.

The two other parts of the Palmetto State’s iconic flag, the crescent and shade of indigo are unchanged from the first redesign attempt.

The first redesign choice uses the palmetto tree that had first appeared on the second official S.C. state flag adopted in 1910, according to the S.C. State Flag Study Committee.

The second choice is a recent palmetto design that has been used by a commercial flag manufacturer since 1953. At only 70 years old, it is still considered to be historic by historians and the National Register of Historic Places.

It is expected that S.C. lawmakers will vote for whichever one they like best. The new designs were created at the request of South Carolina lawmakers who want to standardize the flag for the first time in some 80 years.

For as long as anyone can remember, South Carolina’s iconic flag has consisted of a white palmetto tree and crescent against an indigo backdrop, and has even been named the Best State Flag in the entire U.S.

It is said that nobody knows exactly what the S.C. state flag is even supposed to look like.

Volunteers have spent nearly a year studying the history of the flag and they presented their proposed design to the state’s General Assembly in 2020, but everyone laughed at it and the design idea was taken off the table altogether.