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Texas (United States)

Rich Orman

Maritime Flag
Governor's Flag
Flag of 1824
Flags of 1836
The Lorenzo de Zavala Flag

See also:

United States of America
States of the United States
The Dragon flag which represents the Chinese-Texans
Houston
Fort Worth

Maritime Flag

Texas has had two naval ensigns, the 1824 green-white-red flag adopted in 1835 and the 1839 13 red-and-white striped flag with a white lone star in the blue canton. The 1839 flag replaced the 1836 flag, and the 1839 flag ceased to exist when Texas joined the U.S. on 29 Dec 1845. Texas currently has no maritime flag.

Charles Spain, 1996-JUN-05

Governor's Flag

The Texas legislature enacted a comprehensive rewrite of the laws relating to its flag and seal in 1993 (which I drafted). The statute specifically granted the governor the authority to adopt a flag for the governor's official use, but neither the former or current governor (Ann W. Richards and George W. Bush, respectively) has done so. What I hear through unofficial channels is that the governor's office (both former and current) is concerned that adopting a flag will appear "imperial," and thus be a political liability. I thought we were giving the governor flexibility, but it apparenty was a mistake not to impose a specific design. I am working on correcting this in the 1997 session of the legislature.

By the way, there has been a de facto governor's flag from the late 1960s-early 1970s to the late 1980s. It consists of the state arms (a lone star encircled by live oak and olive branches) on a light blue circle, all on a dark blue field with a white star in each corner.

Charles Spain, 1996-JUN-05

Flag of 1824

This flag was the Mexican tricolor (red, white, and green), with the Mexican coat of arms (eagle holding a serpent and standing on a nopal (cactus)) replaced by the year 1824 to signify allegiance to the 1824 Mexican federal constitution. I don't know the origins of the flag, but it was adopted by the pre-independence, provisional government of Texas in November 1835 as the civil ensign and as the privateer flag. In my opinion, the 1824 civil ensign was replaced by the December 10, 1836 adoption of the first Texas national flag, the David G. Burnet flag (white star on a blue field), and the 1824 privateer flag was replaced by the April 9, 1836 adoption of the Texas national flag for the naval service (white lone star in a blue union with thirteen red and white stripes).

I don't know to what extent the 1824 flag was used on land. It's pretty clear that the flag disappeared from use once the independence faction won out over the pro-Mexican federalist sympathizers, which was led by Stephen F. Austin, the so-called "Father of Texas."

Charles Spain, 1996-JUN-03

Flags of 1836

Texas which was settled by southerners had a bonnie blue flag with the letter T E X A S, between the points of the white star from 1836-MAR-11 to 1836-DEC-10. The Texas Naval Ensign had a white field with a green tree and a red vertical bar on fly, with a white star on blue canton on. The Texas civil Ensign was the Bonnie blue with a white stripe on the upper 1/4 and a red stripe on the lower 1/4. The last two were used when Texas was a republic and again during the civil war.

William M. Grimes-Wyatt, 1996-APR-29

The Lorenzo de Zavala Flag

The Texas flag described as a white star on a blue field with the letters T E X A S around the star points is a vexillological myth. This is the so-called "Lorenzo de Zavala" flag, which Zavala allegedly designed in March 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos during the convention that drafted the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico and the original Texas Constitution. Zavala was a notable figure in Mexican history--he was one of the three drafters of the original 1824 Mexican Constitution.

The convention journals, which I have read the originals in the state archives, reflect that Zavala did propose a flag design, but there is no surviving record of that design. A week or so later, other members of the convention proposed adding a rainbow and stars to Zavala's (unknown) design. Stilll later, it was proposed to add the letters T E X A S. There is no surviving record that a flag was actually adopted, and it's anyone's guess what the flag would have looked like since no one knows what design Zavala actually proposed.

The ficticious "Lorenzo de Zavala" flag that one sees in flag books comes from the fertile imagination of one Mamie Wynne Cox, a member of the venerable Daughters of the Republic of Texas who published a 1930s era book entitled "The Romantic Flags of Texas." Ms. Cox conveniently ignored the journal entries that discuss the addition of the rainbow and stars to Zavala's unknown design, and she shows art for this "flag." The rest is history!

Ms. Cox also incorrectly identified the proposed pilot flag for the Republic of Texas as the civil ensign (this is the white-blue-red triband, with a white star centered in the blue stripe). As a consequence of her book, I see a lot more "Zavala" national flags and Republic of Texas civil ensigns than I care to.

Charles Spain , 1996-MAY-01