The car trip

The continuation of our trip brought us from Oklahoma City to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the Monument Valley, to Grand Canyon, on to Palm Desert, to Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, to Big Sur and on to San Francisco.  The distance we travelled from Orlando to San Francisco is 4,000 miles or 6, 400 kilometers that is like driving from Athens, Greece to Moscow, Russia and back to Athens.

 The following are the flags of the States we drove through in the second half of our itinerary.

The flag of New Mexico is based on the beliefs of the Zia an indigenous people the first Spanish explorers met.  Dr. Harry Mera of Santa Fe designed the flag.  Four is a sacred number to the Zia and symbolizes the circle of life: the four cardinal points, the four times of the day, the four stages of life and the four seasons with the sun binding all of them together.

The flag of Arizona consists of 13 rays of red and yellow on the top half, representing the 13 original states. The red and yellow is from the flag of Spain and also symbolize Arizona's picturesque sunsets. The copper star represents the copper mining industry in Arizona. The rest of the flag is colored blue, representing liberty.

The flag of California is white with a wide red stripe along the bottom, a red star in the upper left corner and a grizzly bear, walking on a patch of green grass. The history of California's flag is interesting.  In 1836, Juan Alvarado and Isaac Graham led a revolution against Mexican rule and declared California "a free and sovereign state". Although the rebellion failed, it inspired the design of the flag of the “Bear Flag Revolt” the Lone Star Flag with a single red star on a white background.  The original “Grizzly Bear Flag” was raised for the first time by the men who became known as the "Bear Flaggers" and was designed by William L. Todd, a nephew of Mary Todd Lincoln the wife of President Abraham Lincoln. The star on the today’s flag was influenced by the Lone Star Flag and the bear was designed to be a symbol of strength and unyielding resistance.

Itinerary

My son and I started our trip in Orlando, Florida and thus far we have driven our friend's car thru the States of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma.  Although these southern States have commonalities each has distinct culture and flag.  I decided therefore to portrait the flags of these States and give a brief history.

The flag of Florida consists of a red saltire, the St. Andrew's Cross, on a white background, with the State seal  superimposed on the center stating in God we Trust. The term "Five Flags over Florida" usually refers to the five governments that have exerted sovereignty over all or part of Florida: the flags of Spain, France, UK, the US and the Confederacy.  

The current flag of the State of Alabama is a crimson cross of St. Andrew on a field of white.  The cross of St. Andrew is a diagonal cross, known in as a saltire. 

The flag of the State of Mississippi is the sole remaining U.S. state flag which bears the Confederate battle flag’s saltire.

The flag of the State of Louisiana consists of a "pelican in her piety" representing a mother pelican wounding her breast to feed her young from the blood. The mother pelican's head and outspread wings covering the three pelican chicks nested below her form a stylized flour-de-lis, another emblem of similar significance often depicted in Louisiana. This symbol is emblematic of Christian charity is also found on the state seal.  

The Texas flag is known as the "Lone Star Flag".  The Flag's code assigns the following symbolism to the colors of the Texas flag: blue stands for loyalty, white for purity, and red for bravery. The code also states that single (lone) star "represents all of Texas and stands for our unity as one for God, State, and Country." The "lone star" is, in fact, an older symbol predating the flag which was used to symbolize Texans' solidarity in declaring independence from Mexico.  It is still seen today as a symbol of Texas' independent spirit, and gave rise to the state's official nickname "The Lone Star State".  The idea of the single red stripe and single white stripe actually dates back to the short-lived Republic of Fredonia,  a small state near modern Nacogdoches which seceded from Mexico in 1826 before being forcibly re-integrated. The new state was formed through an alliance between local Anglo settlers and Native American tribes and the Fredonian flag used a white and red to symbolize the two ethnic groups from which the state was formed.

The flag of the State of Oklahoma consists of a traditional Osage Nation buffalo-skin shield with seven eagle feathers on a sky blue field. The Osage shield is covered by two symbols of peace: the calumet representing Native Americans, and the olive branch representing European Americans. Six golden brown crosses, Native American symbols for stars, are spaced on the shield. The blue field represents the first official flag flown by any Native American Nation, the Choctaw flag. The blue field also represents devotion. The shield surmounted by the calumet and olive branch represents defensive or protective warfare, showing a love of peace by a united people.