Bonnie Blue flag

For the song, see The Bonnie Blue Flag.

The "Bonnie Blue flag" was a banner associated at various times with the Republic of Texas, the short-lived Republic of West Florida, and the Confederate States of America at the start of the American Civil War in 1861. It consists of a single, five-pointed white star on a blue field. Its first use being as early as 1810, it is considered the first lone star flag in U.S. history.^[1]

Bonnie Blue flag

Use	Banner
Design	A dark blue banner charged with a white star

History

Later referred to as the Burnet flag, it was adopted by the Congress of the Republic of Texas on December 10, 1836. This version consisted of an azure background with a large golden star, inspired by the 1810 flag of the Republic of West Florida.^[2] Variants of the Burnet flag with a white star, virtually identical to the Bonnie Blue flag, were also common. Other variants featured the star, of either color, upside down, and/or ringed with the word Texas, with each letter filling one of the gaps of the star (the De Zavala flag). These flags, combined with the flag of the Fredonian Rebellion, are ancestral to the modern flag of Texas.

When the state of Mississippi seceded from the Union in January 1861, a flag bearing a single white star on a blue field was flown from the capitol dome.^[3] Harry Macarthy helped popularize this flag as a symbol of independence, writing the popular song "The Bonnie Blue Flag" early in 1861. Some seceding Southern states incorporated the motif of a white star on a blue field into new state flags.^[4]

Although the name "Bonnie Blue" dates only from 1861, there is no doubt that the flag is identical with the banner of the Republic of West Florida.^[5][6] In 2006 the state of Louisiana formally linked the name "Bonnie Blue" to the West Florida banner, passing a law designating the Bonnie Blue flag as "the official flag of the Republic of West Florida Historic Region".^[7]

The Bonnie Blue flag was used as an unofficial flag during the early months of 1861. It was flying above the Confederate batteries that first opened fire on Fort Sumter, beginning the Civil War. In addition, many military units had their own regimental flags they would carry into battle.

In 2007, one of six known Bonnie Blue flags from the Civil War era was sold at auction for US$47,800. The flag had been carried by the Confederate 3rd Texas Cavalry, and later exhibited as part of the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition.^[8]

• 
  Flag of the Republic of West Florida (1810)
• 
  The Burnet flag
• 
  De Zavala flag
• 
  Naval flag of independent Republic of Texas (1836–1845). This flag was also raised at Pensacola in 1861 by Col. William H. Chase in a provisional representation of the Southern States' rebellion.
• 
  Flag of Texas (1839–present)
• 
  The first flag of Mississippi (1861–1865) with the Bonnie Blue flag incorporated in its design.

In popular culture

In the 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell and the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, Rhett Butler nicknames his newborn daughter "Bonnie Blue" after Melanie Wilkes remarks that her eyes will be "as blue as the bonnie blue flag."^[9][10]

Both flag and song appear in the film Gods and Generals (2003).

In 2012, Irish folk singer, Derek Warfield, released an album called Bonnie Blue Flag, celebrating the Confederate Army and particularly the Irish people who fought for the Confederacy.

See also

• Flags of the Confederate States of America
• "The Bonnie Blue Flag" – 1861 song by Irish Ulster-Scots entertainer Harry McCarthy.