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Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana (U.S.)

image by Olivier Touzeau

Flag Description

See also:

State of Louisiana

Flag Description

The official parish flag was raised for the first time on June 14, 1978 over the Judge L. H. Perez Memorial Park. The banner had been designed by E. Montgomery, a community resident, who had entered a contest held parish wide that was held by local officials. Each color in the flag was designated to represent a virtue of the parish. A green triangle represents the color of growth in the delta. A white border designating purity separates the green of the delta from the three broad bars of red, golden yellow and blue - symbolic of courage, honor and piety respectively.

Six national flags have flown over the parish of Plaquemines. The Spanish banner of Castile and Leon was the first to explore the river's delta. Ponce de Leon's 1513 trip and the Narvaez expedition of 1528 both traveled along the river in Plaquemines Parish and claimed the lands for their country. In 1682, LaSalle planted the flag of Bourbon France at the river's mouth in a place they named Louisiana. Later, in 1699, Iberville left the French flag waving at Bayou Mardi Gras in Southern Plaquemines. Spaniard Antonia de Ulloa spent several months at Balize, the first establishment at the mouth of the river where he unfurled his country's flag in 1767. Ulloa held the office of acting governor of Louisiana while he lived at the Balize. In 1802, the tricolor of Napoleon's France replaced the Spanish flag in Plaquemines. That flag was soon replaced by the red, white and blue Star Spangled Banner of the United States of America on December 10, 1803. Only one other flag flew over the parish from that time forward. On January 6, 1861, the Stars and Bars (also red, white and blue) of the Confederacy were raised when Louisiana seceded from the Union. A little over a year later, on April 28, 1862, after Farragut's capture of New Orleans, the flag of the United States was again the waving banner over the lands of Plaquemines."

Source: www.plaqueminesparish.com (page no longer available)
Olivier Touzeau, 8 January 2004