Lark Jones, the mayor of North Augusta, looks at the South Carolina state flag he made by hand 20 years ago. Mr. Jones constructed the flag to fly in front of his law office because he could not find one in the area to buy.
Posted on 11/23/2002 7:23:26 AM PST by stainlessbanner
Flag emblem's popularity grows
Twenty years ago, Lark Jones wanted to show his pride for South Carolina by flying a state flag in front of his North Augusta law office.
But after looking almost everywhere, he found no flag.
In the end, he bought some blue cloth and stitched onto it the state's crescent moon and palmetto tree insignia. Today, he's replaced the faded blue state flag with a bright new one, and he has a closet full of clothing that has the state flag emblem.
He has ties, belts, golf shirts - even hats. It seems these days that the emblem is easy to come by.
"I think it's state pride," said Mr. Jones, who's also the mayor of North Augusta. "There's some uniqueness to the symbol. You can say you're from South Carolina and you're proud of it."
To show it's a South Carolina city, North Augusta planted a row of palmetto trees along Georgia Avenue, just across the 13th Street Bridge from Augusta, about two years ago.
The emblem has gained popularity within the past two years, according to manufacturers and retailers who sell items showcasing it.
Theories differ slightly, but many people agree that South Carolinians have a newfound love for the state. The emblem itself was created in part from a moment in time that brought pride to South Carolina.
In 1775, Col. William Moultrie was asked by the Revolutionary Council of Safety to create a flag for South Carolina soldiers. He chose blue for the color of their uniforms and borrowed the crescent that appeared on the front of their military caps.
In 1861, when the state seceded from the Union, the General Assembly added the palmetto. The addition was in honor of Col. Moultrie's defense of a palmetto-log fort on Sullivan's Island from the British in 1776.
David Overton, the vice president of the South Carolina Shop in Columbia, said the emblem's increased use stems from negative attention the state received when the Confederate flag flew over the Statehouse.
"The (Confederate) flag issue got South Carolinians thinking as one," Mr. Overton said. "It got people to take some pride in the state. No one can hang any controversy on (the state flag emblem)."
The South Carolina Shop and Palmetto Promotions, which share ownership, trademarked a version of the state flag emblem about three years ago and sell products to more than 100 retailers in South Carolina. Mr. Overton said the companies use it on everything from clothing to pens to Christmas ornaments.
Tracy Hooks owns the CommuniGraphics screen-printing and embroidery operation in North Augusta. She also said pride had something to do with it, crediting an improving public school system and a strong tourism industry.
She prints the crescent moon and palmetto tree on beach blankets, signs and, more and more, for companies incorporating it in their logo. She recently added it to the Old McDonald Fish Camp restaurant sign near North Augusta.
It's popular with college students, too, who request clothing and flags that display the state flag using their school colors, Mrs. Hooks said.
"It's a statewide thing," she said, though when she started incorporating the emblem four years ago she didn't think it would last.
"It's got staying power," she said. "It won't die."
The Student Government Association at the University of South Carolina Aiken has incorporated the emblem on its collared shirts. Vice President Kristin Allen said the flag is quickly recognized when the group travels to nationwide conventions.
"It's something they can immediately look at and say, 'They're from South Carolina."'
Lark Jones, the mayor of North Augusta, looks at the South Carolina state flag he made by hand 20 years ago. Mr. Jones constructed the flag to fly in front of his law office because he could not find one in the area to buy.
But over time, that became "quaint." State pride seemed to dissipate.
Now I live in Texas, and every morning, my daughter does the pledge to the U.S. flag, and then the pledge to the Texas state flag ("Honor the Texas flag: I pledge allegiance to thee Texas, one and indivisible.")
It's nice going back to this notion of honoring your state. Perhaps if we had more of that, there'd be more of a sense of the founding principles of the Republic: Strong state government, with a Federal government limited to only specific functions.
Hear! Hear!
I have South Carolina roots. My grandmother's family, the Lakes, hail from Newberry, where she was born, and was educated at Newberry Teacher's college back in the 1920s.
My father was born there. Later, after they moved to west Florida, he returned to SC to go to school at Clemson (back when it was a military-style men's college a la VMI and The Citadel).
South Carolina is a great state, and I'm proud to say that I have a lot of "SC" in my genealogical records.
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