In 1812 Louisiana became the eighteenth state to join the Union.  

The flag in use today originated from an 1800 design, but it was not officially adopted until 100 years after being accepted into the Union when the Louisiana State Legislature did so in 1912. Originally the flag displayed the state seal, the Eastern Brown Pelican feeding its young in white (symbolizing purity) and gold (symbolizing royalty), on a field of blue (symbolizing truth). The mother pelican within the state seal is tearing the flesh from her own breast with her beak to feed her three young. The pelican is an old religious symbol of protection and went along well with Louisiana’s first motto, “NON SIBI, SED SUIS”, Latin for “NOT FOR ONESELF, BUT FOR OTHERS.” Later, the motto “JUSTICE, UNION and CONFIDENCE" was also used and printed in blue letters on a white and gold banner below the pelicans.

Louisiana became the sixth state to formally secede from the Union in 1861 and for two months afterward and before joining the Confederacy, flew the flag of its own independent nation. This flag, known as the Louisiana Secession flag, was a modified version of the national flag. The flag was based on the state’s strong ancestry. The thirteen stripes represent the 13 original colonies of America. However, its stripes repeat the colors of blue, white and red, the colors of the flag of France, Louisiana’s mother country. The canton had a single gold star placed on a field of red, the colors of the flag of Spain, which once held dominion over Louisiana.

An original "Bible"-sized Louisiana secession flag

(notice Louisiana crest-pelican feeding young-within the star)

When Louisiana became a member of the Confederate States, three different Confederate national flags flew over the state from 1861 to 1865. After the War Between the States, the Louisiana motto was changed to “UNION, JUSTICE, and CONFIDENCE” to show the state’s renewed unity with the Federal Union.

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