Official Symbols and Emblems of Alabama
The First National Flag
"Stars and Bars"
1861-1863
 In January 1861 delegates from the first seven seceeding states met in Montgomery to form a provisional governent. Among their first actions was to create a new flag and seal for the Confederacy. They proposed a flag consisting of a red field divided by a white band one-third the width of the field, thus producing three bars of equal width. The flag had a square blue union the height of two bars, on which was placed a circle of white stars corresponding in number to the states of the Confederacy--South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.
The First National Flag of the Confederacy eventually came to be known as the "Stars and Bars." With seven stars at first, the number increased to eleven with the secession of Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee, and finally to thirteen (in recognition of the symbolic admission of Kentucky and Missouri to the Confederacy). In some cases, the canton had a large star within the circle of stars.
Sources: Owen, Thomas McAdory. History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1921. Website of Georgia Secretary of State
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Updated: January 22, 2010
http://www.archives.alabama.gov/emblems/natflag1.html
