Flags That Have Flown Over Georgia: The History of the Georgia State Flag

Secession Flags, 1860-1861

After the election of Abraham Lincoln as president in November 1860, unofficial flags consisting of a single star on a solid background began appearing across the South. As each star on the U.S. flag signified a state, a single star indicated that the state had withdrawn (or planned to withdraw) from the Union, which would make it a sovereign power.

The best known of the single-star flags was the Bonnie Blue flag. The flag consisted of a solid blue flag, with a large white star in the center. Tradition holds that the Bonnie Blue flag was flown in Georgia during the early months of 1861, although no evidence has been found to support this claim. Better documented is a flag of the same design, but with a red star on a solid white background. Several accounts mention such a flag being flown in Augusta and Milledgeville in January 1861.