Act 383, a state law promulgated by the Alabama state legislature on February 16, 1895, adopted the State Flag of Alabama. It explains in detail, "the
Alabama State Flag shall be a crimson cross of St. Andrew on a field of white. The bars forming the cross shall be not less than six inches broad, and must extend diagonally across the flag from side to side."
As referred to in the law, the cross of St. Andrew is diagonal and known in vexillology as a saltire. It is explicit in Act 383 that the bars must be at least six inches wide, therefore duplicates of small or mini flags of the state of Alabama will not meet the legal requirements of the law.
Alabama was the center of the "cotton kingdom" before the civil wars and probably due to its fertile soils it was home to five Native American tribes - the Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole.
And today, Alabama continues to be at the center of a revitalized Deep South with Birmingham (the state's largest city) that leads focus on medical research and producer of steel, iron and coal. Industries that operate in the state include textiles and apparel, rubber and plastics, paper, chemicals, primary metals and also automobile manufacturing. In information technology, the Alabama Research and Education Network created the first state-funded computer network in the U.S. that links universities and school system across the state.
Even with development happening at a fast pace, life in Alabama has remained tranquil and environmentally enhancing to the likes of literary figures Harper Lee and Truman Capote who had called the state home.
by:
The Flagman
