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Name | The Lone Star Flag |
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Use | Civil and state flag |
Proportion | 2:3 |
Adopted | January 25, 1839 (by the Republic of Texas) Readopted: August 31, 1933 (De facto use 1879–1933) |
Design | ⅓ of the hoist is blue containing a single centered white star. The remaining field is divided horizontally into a white and red bar. |
Designed by | Unknown |
The flag of Texas is the official flag of the U.S. state of Texas. It is well known for its prominent single white star which gives the flag its commonly-used name: "Lone Star Flag". This lone star, in turn, gives rise to the state's nickname: "The Lone Star State." The flag, flown at homes and businesses statewide, is highly popular among Texans and is treated with a great degree of reverence and esteem within Texas.
The state flag is officially described by law as:
a rectangle that: (1) has a width to length ratio of two to three; and (2) contains: (A) one blue vertical stripe that has a width equal to one-third the length of the flag; (B) two equal horizontal stripes, the upper stripe white, the lower stripe red, each having a length equal to two-thirds the length of the flag; and (C) one white, regular five-pointed star: (i) located in the center of the blue stripe; (ii) oriented so that one point faces upward; and (iii) sized so that the diameter of a circle passing through the five points of the star is equal to three-fourths the width of the blue stripe.
Legislation authorizing this flag was introduced in the Congress of the Republic of Texas on December 28, 1838, by Senator William H. Wharton and was adopted on January 25, 1839, as the final national flag of the Republic of Texas. "Accompanying the original Act ... is a drawing by Peter Krag of the national flag and seal ... although in the original President Lamar's approval and signature are at the top and upside down[.]" When Texas became the 28th U.S. state on December 29, 1845, the national flag became the state flag. From 1879 until 1933 there was no official state flag, although the Lone Star Flag remained the de facto state flag; in adopting the Revised Civil Statutes of 1879, the Legislature repealed all statutes not expressly continued in force; since the statutes pertaining to the flag were not among those renewed, Texas was formally flagless until the passage of the 1933 flag law.
The actual designer of the flag is unknown. Some claim that Dr. Charles B. Stewart is either the designer of the flag or drew the image used by the Third Congress when enacting the legislation adopting the flag. However, Stewart's drawing "looks suspiciously like a tracing of the Peter Krag art, including the upside down signature of President Lamar."