What do the palmetto and crescent signify on the South Carolina flag?
In Col. William Moultrie’s memoirs he wrote that he had a large blue flag made to match the blue uniform coats of the 1st and 2nd South Carolina Infantry Regiments. As the units had a silver crescent on the front of their uniform caps, this symbol was placed in the upper left hand corner of the flag. Since there was no United States or South Carolina flag at that time when the 2nd South Carolina garrisoned what became Fort Moultrie during the June 28, 1776, battle this flag was raised over the fort. Over 80 years later, in 1860, when South Carolina seceded from the Union the state had no official flag. In January 1861, it adopted an official flag. Inspired by the 1776 battle, they used the 2nd SC’s flag as a model and added a Palmetto tree to it, representing the logs of the Revolutionary War fort. This flag has served as the state’s flag since 1861. Back to top.
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