FLORIDA

The flag of Florida consists of a red saltire (diagonal cross) on a white background, with the seal of Florida superimposed on the center. The design was approved by a popular referendum in 1900. From 1868 to 1900, the flag of Florida was simply the seal of Florida on a white background. In the late 1890s, Governor Francis P. Fleming suggested that a red cross be added so that it would not appear to be a white flag of truce. Some hold that it owes its origin as a simplification of the Cross of Burgundy Flag used by the Spanish in Spanish Florida.