A pelican feeding her young with her own blood ("vulning") on a white field, with the state motto "Union, Justice, Confidence" on a banner below.
The design
The Flag of Louisiana is a national emblem rendered in the colours and proportions defined by the country’s flag law. Its official aspect ratio is 2:3, the height-to-length ratio that fixes how the flag should be cut and flown. The colour scheme uses azure blue, white, red, with each shade specified to particular Pantone or RGB values for official reproduction.
Colour palette
| Colour | Name | Common symbolism |
|---|---|---|
| Azure blue | azure blue | A nationally significant colour for this flag — see the symbolism section below for the country-specific meaning. |
| White | white | Commonly represents peace, purity, honesty or snow-capped landscapes. |
| Red | red | Often signifies courage, sacrifice, revolution or the blood of those who fought for the nation. |
| Source | Official flag law | The country’s own statute or constitutional appendix specifies exact shades and proportions. |
Symbolism & heraldry
The brown pelican is the state bird; the act of vulning (an old heraldic term for self-wounding) symbolises a parent's self-sacrifice for her young — chosen as an emblem of devotion to the people of Louisiana. The 2010 redesign added drops of blood at the pelican's breast, restoring traditional heraldic accuracy.
Heraldic elements on the Flag of Louisiana — bands, charges, emblems or stars — each carry meaning agreed at the moment of the flag’s adoption. Re-readings happen across generations: a colour or a symbol that began with one meaning often picks up further layers as the country’s history unfolds.
Adoption & history
The current flag was adopted in 1912. Earlier banners flown by Flag of Louisiana reflected the politics of their day; each redesign typically marked a moment of independence, regime change or constitutional reform. The current flag was chosen, debated and codified through the country’s official channels and is now protected by flag law.
Etiquette & protocol
The Flag of Louisiana should be flown with respect: never allowed to touch the ground, never used as drapery for ceremonies it was not made for, and lowered or removed at sundown unless illuminated. When flown alongside other national flags, it takes precedence on home soil and is hoisted first and lowered last. On days of national mourning, the flag is flown at half-mast in line with directives from the head of state. These conventions are common to most nations and are usually written into the flag’s founding statute.
Specifications
| Field | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Country | Flag of Louisiana | — |
| Continent | North America | — |
| ISO alpha-2 | 2-letter code | |
| ISO alpha-3 | 3-letter code | |
| Adopted | 1912 | year of current design |
| Proportion | 2:3 | height : length |
| Colours | azure blue, white, red | — |
| Designer | — | |
| Emoji | Unicode codepoint sequence |
Did you know?
When the original 1912 design was reviewed in 2006, researchers found the pelican had been drawn without the symbolic blood drops since 1912 — the 2010 redesign formally restored them.
