Saturday, 20 June 2015

The flag of Louisiana

The flag of Louisiana shows a "pelican in her piety," - a mother pelican wounding her breast to feed her young from the blood. The image is emblematic of Christian (including Catholic) charity and it is also found on the state seal. There is a ribbon below the pelican image with the state motto: "Union, Justice, and Confidence". The current flag was adopted in November 2010, a revision of the original pelican design of 1912. In this revision, the word “and” was dropped from the flag.

During the 19th century it was traditional in Louisiana flags and the state seal for the "pelican in her piety" to have three drops of blood on her chest. To formalise this, the Louisiana State Legislature passed a bill which requires three drops of blood to be depicted on the pelican used in both the state's flag and seal.

This postcard came from Cathy (12 June 2015) Direct Swap Postcrossing.

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