SOUTH CAROLINA, FLAG OF

U.S. state flag consisting of a dark blue field (background) with a white Sabal palmetto in the centre and a white crescent in the upper hoist corner. On September 13, 1775, a blue flag with a white crescent in its upper hoist corner was raised by anti-British forces at a fort in Charleston Harbor. The flag design was based on the blue uniforms and white crescent badges on the caps of the fort's patriot guards, who were commanded by Colonel William Moultrie. The fortification, later named Fort Moultrie, was protected by palmetto logs that caused British cannonballs to bounce off. Consequently the palmetto was adopted by South Carolinians as their chief state symbol and as a component of new flag designs. Different Palmetto Flags flew in the early 19th century, becoming ubiquitous in late 1860 and early 1861, after South Carolina seceded from the Union. There are records of white flags with palmetto trees in natural colour, with or without stars, and of red flags with white silhouette palmettos. Many were hand-painted for use by troops, on ships, or on public buildings. On January 26, 1861, following secession from the Union, the South Carolina legislature adopted a blue flag with a white crescent at the hoist and a white oval and golden palmetto in the centre. Two days later the palmetto was changed to white and the oval was omitted. That flag has continued to represent the state ever since. Whitney Smith History Earliest settlement The first inhabitants of present-day South Carolina arrived about 11,00012,000 years ago. Hunting and gathering typified their first 10 millennia, but they developed agriculture about 1000 BC. The Mississippian peoples, the most advanced in the pre-Columbian Southeast, arrived about AD 1100 with their complex society, villages, and earthen mound-building, but they disappeared soon after European contact. Perhaps 15,00020,000 Indians resided in South Carolina in 1600, representing three major language groupings: Siouan (Catawba), Iroquoian (Cherokee), and Muskogean (related to Creek). Disease, conflict, and continued European expansion contributed to the virtual disappearance of the Indian population by the time of the U.S. War of Independence. Colonization The first Europeans to visit South Carolina, in 1521, were a party of Spaniards from Santo Domingo (Hispaniola). In 1526 Lucas Vsquez de Aylln led a colony of Spaniards in the earliest settlement of what is thought to have been South Carolina, but it failed within a few months. French Protestants under Jean Ribaut made an unsuccessful attempt to occupy the area of Port Royal in 1562. A few years later, in 1566, the Spaniards returned and established Santa Elena on Parris Island. It was an important Spanish base until 1587. In 1665 Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, and seven other lords proprietor received a charter from King Charles II to establish the colony of Carolina (named for the king) in a vast territory between latitudes 29 and 3630 N and from sea to sea. Under it, the English made the first permanent settlement on the west bank of the Ashley River at Albemarle Point in 1670. A decade later, the government and most inhabitants moved to a more favourable location on the peninsula formed by the Ashley and Cooper rivers, the site of Charleston today. The colony grew slowly and by 1720 had a population of about 19,000, settled almost exclusively along the coast. Trade with the Indians and export of deerskins constituted the major sources of income, complemented by naval stores after 1710. Conflicts with the lords proprietor over economic support, Indian trade, and authority of the Commons House resulted in the overthrow of proprietary rule in 1719. In 1729 the colony was divided into two provinces, North and South; Georgia was carved out of the southern part of the original grant in 1731. Under crown rule, South Carolina prospered, and exports of rice and indigo contributed to its growing wealth. Based on this successful trade, Charleston entered its golden age, and its much-envied refinement and cultural attainment made it a leading city in the colonies. The flood of Scotch-Irish settlers overland from Pennsylvania saw a population explosion in the interior after 1760 and demands for political representation, resulting in a conflict between the Low Country (coast) and Up Country that continued into the 19th century. British troops occupied Charleston in 1780, but much of the Revolution was fought as a civil war between patriot and loyalist South Carolinians. Two major American victories were the battles at Cowpens and Kings Mountain.