South Carolina Symbols

The South Carolina State Flag

Asked by the Revolutionary Council of Safety in the fall of 1775 to design a flag for the use of South Carolina troops, Col. William Moultrie chose a blue which matched the color of their uniforms and a crescent which reproduced the silver emblem worn on the front of their caps. The palmetto tree was added later to represent Moultrie's heroic defense of the palmetto-log fort on Sullivan's Island against the attack of the British fleet on June 28, 1776.

 

The Seal of the State of South Carolina

 

Left side: The palmetto tree springs from a fallen oak tree, which represents the British ships that South Carolina patriots defeated at Sullivan's Island in 1776.  the shields on the palmetto trunk give the dates of the Delclaration of Independence (4 July 1776) and the date that South Carolina adopted it's first constitution (26 March 1776).  The motto on the banner means "who shall separate?" The words under the tree trunk translate to "Having fallen it has set up a better." ANIMIS OPIBUSQUE PARATI means "Prepared in mind and resources."

Right side:  The woman represents hope overcoming danger, and the laurel branch in her hand symbolizes the victory at Sullivan's Island.  SPES means hope.  DUM SPIRO SPERO means, "While I breathe, I hope."  DUM SPIRO SPERO and ANIMIS OPIBUSQUE PARATI are the state mottoes. 

 

The State Bird - The Carolina Wren

 

The Carolina Wren is a member of the family Troglodytidae. It is present in all areas in South Carolina from the coast to the highest mountain. The song; which may be interpreted as " tea-ket-tle, tea-ket-tle, tea-ket-tle;" may be heard the year-round, day and night, in all kinds of weather.  In 1948 the General Assembly officially designated The Carolina Wren as the Bird  of the State. The Carolina Wren is slightly smaller than an English Sparrow and has a conspicuous white stripe over the eyes. The back of its body is rufous-red with underparts somewhat lighter in color. The tail, which is finely barred with black, is held erect when the bird is excited. 

The State Flower - Carolina Yellow Jessamine   
Gelsemium sempervirens

Officially adopted by the General Assembly on February 1, 1924, for the following reasons: it is indigenous to every nook and corner of the State; it is the first premonitor of coming Spring; its fragrance greets us first in the woodland and its delicate flower suggests the pureness of gold; its perpetual return out of the dead Winter suggests the lesson of constancy in, loyalty to and patriotism in the service of the State. "No flower that blooms holds such perfume, As kindness and sympathy won. Wherever there grows the sheltering pine Is clinging a Yellow Jessamine vine." From "Legend of the Yellow Jessamine," by Mrs. Teresa Strickland of Anderson, South Carolina, when the flower was made the emblem of Dixie Chapter, U.D.C., about 1906. The "Carolina or Yellow Jessamine" is defined by the New International Encyclopedia as "A climbing plant which grows upon trees and fences and bears a profusion of yellow, funnel-shaped flowers an inch in diameter, with a fragrance similar to that of the true Jasmine." Its odor on a damp evening or morning fills the atmosphere with a rare and delicate sweetness.  

The South Carolina State Tree - The Palmetto 

The Carolina Palmetto was adopted as the official State Tree of the State of South Carolina by a Joint Resolution of the General Assembly in 1939.  Commonly known as the Cabbage Palmetto, the Carolina Palmetto is classified by the US Department of Agriculture as Inodes Palmetto and is also called the Sabal Palmetto.  It has long been associated with the history of South Carolina, being represented on the State Flag as well as on the State Seal, where it is symbolic of the defeat of the British fleet by the fort, built of Palmetto logs, on Sullivan's Island.  The Palmetto is an attractive feature of the coastal areas of South Carolina and is also found in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina.