State Flag and State Symbols

The state flag of South Carolina was officially adopted in 1861. It has a white crescent and a white palmetto tree on a blue ground. Three white crescents (on a blue background) were first used on a South Carolina banner protesting the Stamp Act in 1765. In 1775, Colonel William Moultrie designed a banner for South Carolina troops; it had a white crescent on a blue field. The soldiers from South Carolina have had a long and illustrious attachment with the shape of the crescent moon from the present day shoulder patch of the state national guard back to the time before the American Revolution and its use as a helmet badge. Many battles on land and at sea around the world were fought by South Carolina's sons wearing their beloved crescent moon.When South Carolina seceded from the Union, the palmetto tree was added to the flag. The palmetto tree was chosen because this tree had helped South Carolinians defeat the British in a battle at Sullivan's Island during the Revolutionary War. The South Carolinians built a fort out of palmetto wood, and when the British fired cannonballs at the fort, instead of knocking the fort down, the soft palmetto wood just absorbed the cannonballs.

South Carolina State Symbols

Nickname - Palmetto State

Motto - "Prepared In Mind And Deed" & "While I Breathe I Hope"

Song - "Carolina"

Bird - Carolina Wren

Animal - White Tail Deer

Flower - Yellow Jessamine

Tree - Palmetto

Gem-Stone - Blue Granite

Important State Facts:

• South Carolina, was the 8th state in the USA; it became a state on May 23, 1788.
• State Abbreviation - SC
• State Capital - Columbia
• Largest City - Columbia
• Area - 32,007 square miles. South Carolina is the 40th biggest state in the USA.
• Population - 4,012,012 (as of 2000) South Carolina is the 26th most popular state in the U.S.A.\
• Major Rivers - Santee River, Edisto River, Savannah River
• Major Lakes - Lake Marion, Lake Moultrie, Lake Murray, Hartwell Lake
• Highest Point - Sassafras Mountain - 3,560 feet (1,085 m) above sea level
• Bordering States - Georgia, North Carolina
• Bordering Body of Water - Atlantic Ocean
• Presidential Birthplace - Andrew Jackson was born in Waxhaw on March 15, 1767. He was the 7th US President, serving from 1829 to 1837.
• State Nickname - Palmetto State
• State Motto - "Dum Spiro Spero" - While I breathe, I hope
• State Song - Carolina
• Origin of the Name South Carolina - South Carolina was named to honor King Charles I (Carolus is Latin for Charles).