Acadiana Flag History

By Antony Pharel


Before 1713, Acadia was a French colony pioneered mostly by settlers from the coastal provinces of Brittany, Normandy, Picardy, and Poitou-a region that suffered great hardships in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. In 1628, famine and plague followed the end of a series of religious wars between Catholics and Protestants.

Since the Acadians were citizens of Spain at the time of the American Revolution, their star could not appear on the first American flag. Thus, the gold star on the Louisiana Acadian Flag serves as a reminder of Louisiana's participation in the American Revolution and the significant contributions of the Louisiana Acadians during the struggle for the beginning of a new nation.

The Acadian banner was set up at the second Acadian Convention in 1884 at Miscouche, Prince Edward Island. Father Marcel-Francois Richard planned it and conveyed it with him to the occasion. Like the banner of France, it is blue, white, and red. The gold star at the upper left is the Stella Maris, there to look for the direction of the Virgin Mary, benefactor holy person of the Acadians. This banner represents Acadians around the world.

Dr. Thomas Arceneaux, Dean of Agriculture at the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette (1941-1973), outlined a comparable banner in 1965 to respect the 200th commemoration of the entry of Acadians in Louisiana. Like the Acadian banner, it is blue, white and red and has the gold star to speak to the Virgin Mary, benefactor holy person of the Acadians.

The star also symbolizes the active participation of the Acadians in the American Revolution. The gold castle on the red field represents and honours Spain, the country that controlled Louisiana at the time of the Acadian migration there. The silver fleur-de-lis on the blue field represents their French heritage.

Soon after 1974, this banner has formally recognized the Acadians who relocated to Louisiana. Flag Company Inc decided to assist with the history development by providing special decals and banners to make it easy to build a bit of history right at home.




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