South Carolina's New State Flag
While traveling through South Carolina today, I got a glimpse of South Carolina's new state flag.
First let me explain why South Carolina was motivated to adopt a new state flag. Prior to this new flag, the South Carolina flag included the Confederate Battle Flag. Since the inclusion of the Confederate Battle Flag was offensive to some (think descendants of slaves) South Carolina decided to strike the old flag and adopt the new one. You can see an image of the flag (here) as well as an explanation of what the symbols on the flag represent.
When I first saw this flag I was struck by its beauty, a computer image does not do justice to the irredescent shade of blue fluttering with the sky as a background. Truthfully, the first time I saw it, flying in front of a corporate hospital, I thought it was a corporate flag for a corporate health firm. My second viewing was in front of a medical center, so I still felt it was related somehow to health care. After later seeing it flown in front of other types of establishments, I figured out it must be South Carolina's new state flag.
I give South Carolina an A+ for esthetics. It is a beautiful flag. I also give them an A+ for history. South Carolina sought to replace their prior state flag, which was grounded in history, with another flag also steeped in tradition. However I give them at best a D+ for what the symbolic content represents to modern day citizens.
What is my criticism? The new South Carolina flag includes the crescent moon. I was puzzled how this could have come to be included in a flag representing South Carolina. South Carolina is in the Bible Belt with a strong influence in politics by Southern Baptists.
Think about it. If South Carolina tried to adopt a state flag that includes the Christian Cross in its field, there would have been immediate objections. However the crescent moon is also a religious symbol. The Crescent Moon is the symbol of Islam. It symbolizes the new moon that signals the start of Ramadan to Moslems. When I saw the crescent moon on the flag that is what I thought of.
While I was still in South Carolina, on the CB I asked if any South Carolina truckers knew what the crescent moon represented. I was not surprised that none of them seemed to know. I was shocked that none of them knew the Crescent Moon was as much a symbol of Islam as the Christian Cross is a symbol of Christianity. Having some fun with these truckers, I told them South Carolina must be a damn Islamic state.
Before I get to the final point of this post, let me point out some recent developments to anyone uninformed. Recently it has become fashionable to try and get any hint of Christian religious symbols from the likes of things like city seals, no matter how steeped in tradition these seals are. However not a peep that I am aware of has been raised about the inclusion of an Islamic symbol in the field of the South Carolina state flag.
If I were a politically minded Southern Baptist residing in South Carolina, I would demand that the symbol of Christianity, the Christian Cross, be given equal prominence on the state flag as the Islamic symbol, the Crescent Moon. In a nod to religious tolerance, I would agree to having the Star of David also represented.
If this was not acceptable to the state legislature, I would turn to the ACLU and ask them to file suit against the state of South Carolina for including an Islamic Crescent Moon in the state flag while discriminating against other religions.
First let me explain why South Carolina was motivated to adopt a new state flag. Prior to this new flag, the South Carolina flag included the Confederate Battle Flag. Since the inclusion of the Confederate Battle Flag was offensive to some (think descendants of slaves) South Carolina decided to strike the old flag and adopt the new one. You can see an image of the flag (here) as well as an explanation of what the symbols on the flag represent.
When I first saw this flag I was struck by its beauty, a computer image does not do justice to the irredescent shade of blue fluttering with the sky as a background. Truthfully, the first time I saw it, flying in front of a corporate hospital, I thought it was a corporate flag for a corporate health firm. My second viewing was in front of a medical center, so I still felt it was related somehow to health care. After later seeing it flown in front of other types of establishments, I figured out it must be South Carolina's new state flag.
I give South Carolina an A+ for esthetics. It is a beautiful flag. I also give them an A+ for history. South Carolina sought to replace their prior state flag, which was grounded in history, with another flag also steeped in tradition. However I give them at best a D+ for what the symbolic content represents to modern day citizens.
What is my criticism? The new South Carolina flag includes the crescent moon. I was puzzled how this could have come to be included in a flag representing South Carolina. South Carolina is in the Bible Belt with a strong influence in politics by Southern Baptists.
Think about it. If South Carolina tried to adopt a state flag that includes the Christian Cross in its field, there would have been immediate objections. However the crescent moon is also a religious symbol. The Crescent Moon is the symbol of Islam. It symbolizes the new moon that signals the start of Ramadan to Moslems. When I saw the crescent moon on the flag that is what I thought of.
While I was still in South Carolina, on the CB I asked if any South Carolina truckers knew what the crescent moon represented. I was not surprised that none of them seemed to know. I was shocked that none of them knew the Crescent Moon was as much a symbol of Islam as the Christian Cross is a symbol of Christianity. Having some fun with these truckers, I told them South Carolina must be a damn Islamic state.
Before I get to the final point of this post, let me point out some recent developments to anyone uninformed. Recently it has become fashionable to try and get any hint of Christian religious symbols from the likes of things like city seals, no matter how steeped in tradition these seals are. However not a peep that I am aware of has been raised about the inclusion of an Islamic symbol in the field of the South Carolina state flag.
If I were a politically minded Southern Baptist residing in South Carolina, I would demand that the symbol of Christianity, the Christian Cross, be given equal prominence on the state flag as the Islamic symbol, the Crescent Moon. In a nod to religious tolerance, I would agree to having the Star of David also represented.
If this was not acceptable to the state legislature, I would turn to the ACLU and ask them to file suit against the state of South Carolina for including an Islamic Crescent Moon in the state flag while discriminating against other religions.
posted by Little David at 10/09/2006 10:32:00 PM
9 Comments:
The Crescent moon is NOT exclusive to Islam.
Some history about the cresent moon.
http://islam.about.com/library/weekly/aa060401a.htm
Furthermore, the crescent moon AND star is the "Islamic" symbol, not the crescent moon alone.
Here are many flags with crescent moons on them, if youll notice, the Islamic ones all have a moon AND a star
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallery_of_flags_with_crescents
Here is also an actual explanation of the crescent moon on South Carolinas Flag
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_South_Carolina
Note that I included a link to a webpage that explains what the crescent symbol on South Carolina's flag represents.
The "Red Crescent Society" uses a crescent moon to represent the Islamic version of the "Red Cross Society". If you care to do a little research, please note that the Red Crescent uses only a crescent moon and does not include a star.
I admit, I didnt notice that link, my mouse is pretty much broken, and I probably scrolled by it, because I strangely dont remember reading that section. Then again, why do you suggest that someone make an argument that it is religious in nature, when it clearly is not? Is there some dry satire Im missing in the post?
As for the Red Crescent society, I noticed that they have no star when I was originally reading the links, but they are in the slim minority. Almost all Islamic nations include a star with the moon. Considering that there is no "official" symbol of Islam, as they reject symbols as a principal, the "official" sign is seriously up for debate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_and_crescent
This site outright claims that it is the star and crescent.
There are a number of Islamic national flags that incorporate the crescent moon with more then a single star.
There are also a few Islamic national flags that only contain the crescent moon absent any stars.
Please note that one proposal for a new Iraqi flag contains only a crescent moon absent any stars.
The crescent moon is often used, sometimes with one star, sometime with a few stars, and sometimes absent any stars at all.
There is nothing "new' about South Carolina's flag. It was the Georgia flag that had the confederate battle flag incorporated. Nor does the cresent moon have anything to do with Islam. The SC flag dates from and is directly drawn from the revolutionary war. Little David is just an example of ignorant world wide bullshit.
I have to agree with "evgo". I am a native South Carolinian. Born & raised. The current flag is not new. What I find interesting is that you have a link within your original post to a picture of our "new" flag. The caption below that picture states the following:
**
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.
**
I think our flag is beautiful in it's simplicity. The contrasting colors are striking. I remember drawing that flag when I was in grade school, and it's image will always be etched in my mind. I am as patriotic to my state as I am to my country.
Thank you for visiting our state. I hope you enjoyed your stay.
I missed some of the newer comments (dating back to 2008) on this thread. My ignorance has been exposed.
I guess I was mislead by all the controversy surrounding the flying of the Confederate Battle Flag over the South Carolina State House from 1962 up until 2000.
I apologize for my ignorance and wish to express my appreciation towards those who motivated me to increase my knowledge.
Little David, don't feel bad about these comments. I am from Chicago and the first time I saw the SC flag I immediately connected that crescent moon to Islam.
You are not alone in seeing the connection.
As an ex-pat native South Carolinian, I have an orange Palmetto and Moon on my car. (Natives know what it means)
That being said, I have been flagged down in my car at a redlight and asked about the palmetto and moon. The local Tennessee genius asked if it "was some kinda Muslim thang?"
That was my first exposure to people not knowing what the hell they are talking about.
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