South Carolina is a very independent and business-oriented state of mind, so it’s not necessarily surprising that our state’s flag design has been outsourced to the private sector for decades.
But South Carolina is also a state where a motivated and passionate person can make a difference, so we are pleased to know that a team of respected historians seems close to deciding on a project for an official state flag.
This design looks very much like the state flag that we have known for a long time, but its exact color and the size of its half-moon and heart of palm vary slightly from many other versions made, sold and flown.
Years ago, these variations angered Scott Malyerck, a Newberry political advisor who led the task of creating a standardized version of the South Carolina flag. If the legislature and Governor Henry McMaster agree – which we hope they will do this year – Mr. Malyerck will have a vexilological victory.
“It is an important symbol for our state,” Malyerck recently told reporter Avery Wilkes, “and we must get it right.” We agree.
The most recent official version was approved in 1910: it was strongly influenced by Ellen Heyward Jervey from Charleston, who corresponded with an important state historian regarding its design. His work included a study of palm hearts near his home at 71 Rutledge Ave. and possibly a field survey on Palmas Island.
Even previous versions with the palm heart and the half moon were approved when South Carolina split before the Civil War, but half a century later, many had forgotten what the flag was like, starting work on a new official version. By 1940, however, this version was revoked by state legislators – not because of any controversy over its design, but as part of a bill that rescinded the requirement that Clemson University manufacture the flags at a cost (no , state mandates without funding are nothing new).
In the past 80 years, the state has not had a formal model: its agencies have ordered flags from at least five different suppliers.
Eric Emerson, director of the SC Department of Archives and History, eminent South Carolina historian Walter Edgar and others researched the history of the flag to come up with a recommendation for a new standard design. It has Pantone 282 C – the indigo color of the uniforms worn by Colonel William Moultrie’s 2nd South Carolina Regiment in the Revolutionary War. Its crescent shape is based on emblems worn by Colonel Moultrie’s soldiers during the war. And the palm tree – a tribute to Moultrie’s victory in June 1776 over nine British warships during the Battle of Sullivan’s Island – is based largely on Jervey’s 110-year pencil sketch.
Apparently, his tree outline resulted in a sparser-looking palm than many favors, and as a result of this feedback, Mr. Malyreck and others plan to return to the drawing board for further adjustments. Public opinion seems to indicate that historical accuracy only goes so far; aesthetics is also important.
Even without an official version, the simplistic yet historic design of the South Carolina flag has made it one of the best state flags in the country. And although the Legislature has held its share of passionate debates about the flag in recent decades, we hope that 2021 will be a landmark year for those seeking a peaceful and unifying resolution to the state’s best-known symbol.