Bonnie Blue flag

Bonnie Blue flag, flag featuring a single white five-pointed star on a blue background. It is most closely associated with the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Although not the official Confederate flag, the Bonnie Blue flag’s close association with the Confederate cause and the defense of slavery has made the flag controversial in modern times.

History and variants

The now-familiar design of the Bonnie Blue flag was first seen in the short-lived Republic of West Florida in 1810. West Florida, which included parts of the present-day states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, had been taken over by the Spanish after the American Revolutionary War. The region remained under Spanish control after the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, though the United States claimed the territory. On September 23, 1810, in a challenge to Spanish authority in the region, a troop of soldiers marched to Baton Rouge, under the banner of a blue flag with a single white five-pointed star in the center. Baton Rouge was captured, and the new Republic of West Florida was declared with the flag (as yet unnamed) as its banner. However, the republic lasted only until it was annexed by the United States on December 10, 1810, and the flag was replaced by the flag of the United States.

The Republic of Texas adopted a version of the flag, called the Burnet flag, from 1836 to 1839. Designed by interim president David G. Burnet, this version had a gold five-pointed star on a darker blue background. The use of the single star motif underscored the common theme of a lone entity asserting its independence. The Burnet flag remained the national flag of Texas until the 1839 adoption of the Lone Star flag of Texas.

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On January 9, 1861, when the state of Mississippi passed its Ordinance of Secession prior to joining the Confederate States of America, it hoisted the blue flag with the white star, which soon became known throughout the South as the Bonnie Blue flag. The Bonnie Blue flag was also flown in Georgia in 1861, though with no official standing. With its symbolism of unity and independence, elements of the Bonnie Blue flag started being incorporated into other secessionist states’ new flags. Although it was never approved by the Confederate Congress nor made an official flag of the Confederacy, it was widely adopted by Southerners and was referred to as the “flag of secession.” As a result, the flag is associated with the Confederacy’s defense of slavery, which has made the flag a subject of controversy. It is today considered an offensive symbol.

The song

“The Bonnie Blue Flag,” one of the most popular marching songs for the Confederate States during the Civil War, was written and performed by Harry McCarthy (1834–88) in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1861. The song names the 11 states that seceded from the Union and formed the Confederacy, and it is set to the tune of a traditional Irish song, “The Irish Jaunting Car.” Performed again in New Orleans for an audience of soldiers later the same year, the song was a hit and led to McCarthy performing all over the South.

“The Bonnie Blue Flag” was popular among civilians as well. The song was banned by Union forces, and singing the song was considered an act of treason. The song was revived with a rise in Lost Cause beliefs at the end of the 19th century, and it was later used to protest desegregation during the American civil rights movement in the 1960s.

Legacy

Original Bonnie Blue flags are now extremely rare and thus valued as collectors’ items. In 2007 a Confederate Bonnie Blue flag used by the 3rd Texas State Cavalry was sold at auction for $47,800.

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In the 1936 novel Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, as well as the 1939 film adaptation of the same name, the character Eugenie Victoria, the daughter of Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler, is nicknamed “Bonnie Blue” by her father because, as a character points out, her blue eyes match the Bonnie Blue flag. The Dublin-born singer Derek Warfield released an album titled The Bonnie Blue Flag in 2004, dedicated to Irish soldiers who fought for the Confederacy.