New Orleans, Louisiana (U.S.)

Last modified: 2002-10-26 by rick wyatt
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by Mark Sensen, 3 October 1997

See also:

• Mardi Gras
• Louisiana

The Official Flag of the City of New Orleans was adopted by the Commission Council February 5, 1918 in honor of the City's Bi-Centennial. The white field is the symbol of purity in government; the blue stripe is liberty and the red is fraternity. The white field is five times as wide as the stripes of liberty and fraternity (or Union) because it is the mother of both; the combination of these three fundamental principles of good government constitutes DEMOCRACY.

The three fleurs-de-lis grouped in triangular form represent the birth of New Orleans under the banner of the three fleurs-de-lis; but these having since been snatched from the blue field of the banner of autocracy, now rest upon the field of purity and equality and symbolize DEMOCRACY triumphant over autocracy.

The red, white and blue are the colors of the United States but are also the colors of France, and as New Orleans is the daughter of both, they are so grouped as to constitute a new and separate entity, which is now the flag of New Orleans.

(Condensed from "Raising of the Official flag of the City of New Orleans on the City Hall, February 9, 1918")
Source: www.new-orleans.la.us.

submitted by: JJ Andersson, 23 April 2002