The Lone Star

• In 1839, after Texas won its freedom from Santa Anna, the current version of the Texas flag was adopted. It has a single white star in the center of the left side resting on a navy blue rectangle. A white bar occupies the top portion and a red bar occupies the bottom portion of the flag. Texas earned its nickname as "The Lone Star State" because of the design. Even during the Civil War, Texans proudly flew their flag as they fought to defend the ways of the south.
  
  

Stars and Bars

• The Stars and Bars was the first flag of the Confederacy flown in Texas. It was inspired by the Australian flag and appears with differing number of stars, seven to 15. Eleven states succeeded from the Union, two had dual governments, one attempted to succeed but was hindered and one slave state remained loyal to the Union, so the flags differ according to which states they chose to include in the count. The stars appear in a circle on a navy blue square in the left corner. Three bars cover the rest of the flag -- red on top and bottom and white in the center. This is considered the national Confederate flag.
  
  

Confederate Battle Flag

• Because the Stars and Bars resembled the Union flag, confusion reigned in battle. General Beauregard of the Confederate army suggested creating a separate battle flag to eliminate confusion and chaos for soldiers in combat. He was successful in convincing the Confederate government and the battle flag was created. It is red with a navy blue X outlined in white running from corner to corner. Within the X are 13 stars for the 13 official states of the Confederacy.
  
  

Texas Fighting Flags

• Two flags in particular were flow by Texas army regiments in battle. Shea's Vernon Texas Battery flew a flag similar to the Confederate battle flag. It is red with a blue X running from corner to corner. It also has 13 white stars within the X, but the middle star is the largest and and is positioned upside down, pointing to the bottom of the flag. Waul's Texas Legion also had a flag. The left corner of the flag is a square of the Confederate battle flag. The rest of the flag is solid white with the word "Vicksburg" written near the top.