Elizabeth Kibler

1Over the state’s long history, Georgia has flown many different flags. During the Revolutionary War, Georgia’s militias created flags to identify their units. Later, Georgians flew unofficial state flags. These flags were not exactly the same, but most of them included the state seal, which was created in 1799.

2Georgia and other southern states seceded, or left, the rest of the United States, known as the Union, in 1861. Soon afterward, these states formed the Confederate States of America. While in the Confederacy, Georgians flew the Confederate flag. The Stars and Bars—as it was known—looked similar to the United States flag. It had two thick red stripes, one thick white stripe, and a blue field in the top-left corner. The blue field contained a circle of seven white stars. The stars represented the seven states in the Confederacy. Soon after the Civil War began, Confederate soldiers noticed that the Stars and Bars caused confusion on the battlefield. The flag looked too similar to the American flag. Therefore, during battle, the Confederate states flew the Confederate battle flag. This flag had a red background with crossed blue stripes. The blue stripes contained thirteen white stars.

3After the Civil War, Georgia had a number of different flags. Many Georgians flew unofficial state flags. These flags had a blue background with the Georgia coat of arms in the center. In 1879, Georgia adopted an official state flag that was similar to the Stars and Bars, except the blue field was plain, without stars. In 1902, the Georgia State Assembly changed the flag to include the coat of arms in the blue field. The Assembly made another change in 1914 when they added the year 1776—the year the United States declared its independence—into the coat of arms. The flag changed yet again in the 1920s. This change replaced the coat of arms on the flag with the state seal.

4During the 1950s, the civil rights movement took place in Georgia and the rest of the South. At this time, some Georgians suggested replacing the red and white stripes of the Georgia state flag with the Confederate battle flag. In 1956, Georgia adopted this new state flag, but it was not without its problems. The new flag increased racial division. Some Georgians believed that the flag was not appropriate because of its ties to the Civil War and slavery. These people wanted to bring back the pre-1956 state flag. For close to forty years, arguments about the state flag continued. Some government buildings in Atlanta even refused to fly the state flag.

5It wasn’t until January 2001 that Georgia adopted a new state flag. This flag had a blue background with the state seal in the middle. The bottom of this flag had a gold banner that displayed other flags that had flown over Georgia in the past. Although Georgia had a new flag, the disagreement was not over. People who liked the 1956 flag were outraged. They even staged protests against the new flag. Some people believed that the 2001 flag was too detailed, making it unattractive. Finally, in 2003, Georgia got another flag. This flag looked similar to the Stars and Bars, but the blue square included the coat of arms surrounded by thirteen white stars. Although this flag was more popular than the 2001 flag, not everyone was pleased. Today, Georgia still flies the 2003 flag.

Read the passage on the left to answer the following questions:
3)
What is the main idea of this passage?
A) Georgia has flown many different flags.
B) States change their flags during wartime.
C) Georgia’s flags always cause disagreements.
D) Designing a flag that everyone likes is difficult.