History

Written history of Florida begins with the arrival of Europeans, beginning with the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León in 1513. From that time of contact Florida has had a long immigration, including French and Spanish settlement during the 16th century, as well as entry of new Native American groups migrating from elsewhere in the South. Florida was under colonial rule by Spain and Great Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries before becoming a territory of the United States in 1822. Two decades later, in 1845, Florida was admitted to the union as the 27th US state.

Heraldry

Colonial Florida

Juan Ponce de León was the first European to sight what today is Florida. A legend says he discovered it while searching for the Fountain of Youth. On March 3, 1513, Juan Ponce de León organized and equipped three ships which commenced an expedition departing from “Punta Aguada” Puerto Rico.

Arms of Juan Ponce de León

The arms of Juan Ponce de León are:

Arms: Per pale of León and Aragon and a bordure Azure eight escutcheons Or, a fesse Azure for Vidaurre.

The major figure in the French attempts to colonize Florida. was Jean Ribault (1520 – October 12, 1565) a French naval officer, navigator, and a colonizer of what would become the southeastern United States  A Huguenot and officer under Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, Ribault led an expedition to the New World in 1562 that founded the outpost of Charlesfort on Parris Island in present-day South Carolina. Two years later, he took over command of the French colony of Fort Caroline in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. He and many of his followers were killed by Spanish soldiers near St. Augustine in 1565.

De Coligny

Arms: Gules, and eagle Argent, crowned, billed and clawed Azure

Ribault (Normandie)

Arms: Gules, three crosses moline Argent and a fesse Azure. three besants Or.

René Goulaine de Laudonnière founded Fort Caroline in what is now Jacksonville in 1564 as a haven for the Huguenots.

Jean Ribault’s stone column

Between the sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries, the major European powers carved up an entire continent for themselves by means of proclamations and symbolic gestures. In 1564, a Timucua chief showed René Goulaine de Laudonnière the column erected there two years earlier by Jean Ribault. On it were the royal arms of King Charles IX.

Athore, son of the Timucuan king Saturiwa, showing Laudonnière the monument placed by Ribault in 1562

After Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues and Theodore de Bry. The inscription reads: «Laudonnierus et rex athore ante columnam a praefecto prima navigatione locatam qvamqve venerantur floridenses », [1]

Spanish Rule

1565-1763

Further down the coast the Spanish founded in 1565 by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, San Agustín (St. Augustine). From this base of operations, the Spanish began building Catholic missions.

On September 20, 1565, Menéndez de Avilés attacked Fort Caroline, killing most of the French Huguenot soldiers defending it. Two years later, Dominique de Gourgue recaptured the settlement from the Spanish and slaughtered all of the Spanish defenders.

The spanish colony was under the supervision of the Governor of the Captaincy of Cuba. In that time the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Castile was valid.

Royal coat of arms of Castile and Leon.  (End of 17th cent.)

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, St Augustine

The arms are quarterly of Castile and Leon, royally crowned and surrounded by the collar of the Order of the fleece.

Æ See also: Spanish Indies

The arms of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés were:

Arms of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (1591)

As on his tomb in Avilés

Arms: Per pale, the dexter Gules, an armed vessel under sail with a cross on the main mast and a saw on the ship's bow breaking the large chain in the Guadalquivir suspended between two castles Or, for the city of Avilés; the sinister Argent, six ravens 3 & 3 Sable, for Menéndez.

Tomb of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés in the church of  St Nicolas in Avilés (Asturias, Spain)

The inscription reads:

AQVI IAZE SEPVLTADO EL MVY YLVTRE CAVALLERO PEDRO MENEZ DE AVILES NATVRAL DESTA VILLA ADELANTADO DE LAS PROVINCIAS DE LA FLORIDA COMENDADOR DE SANTA CRUZ DE LA ÇARÇA DE LA ORDEN DE SANTIAGO Y CN GENAL DEL MAR OCCEANO Y DE LA ARMADA CATOLICA QUE EL SEÑOR FELIPE 2.º JVNTO EN SANTANDER CONTRA YNGLATERA EN EL AÑO 1574 DONDE FALLECIO A LOS 17 DE SETIEMBRE DEL DICHO AÑO SIENDO DE EDAD DE 55 AÑOS.

(This is the sepulchre of the illustrious knight Pedro Menéndez de Avilés born in that city, prince of the provinces of Florida, commander of Santa Cruz de la Zarza, of the Order of Santiago and General Commander of the Ocean and the Catholic Fleet  who joined Lord Philip the 2nd in Santander against England in 1574 and died the 17th of September of that year being 55 years old. )

The arms of Dominique de Gourgue were:

De Gourgue

Arms: Azure, a lion rampant Or.

British Rule

1763-1784

Florida captured by the British  in 1763.

Royal Achievement of Great Britain

In the head  of  the Proclamation of King George III of  7 October 1763 [2]

Announcing the conclusion of the Treaty of Paris on 10 February 1763 by which Quebec, East Florida, West Florida and Grenada were ceded to Great Britain.

Finding this new territory too large to govern as one unit, the British divided it into two new colonies, West Florida and East Florida, separated by the Apalachicola River. East Florida consisted of most of the formerly Spanish Florida, and retained the old Spanish capital of St. Augustine. West Florida comprised the land between the Mississippi and Apalachicola Rivers, with Pensacola designated as its capital. The northern boundary was arbitrarily set at the 31st parallel north.

The settlement of East Florida was heavily linked in London with the same interests that controlled Nova Scotia. The East Florida Society of London and the Nova Scotia Society of London had many overlapping members, and Council frequently followed their suggestions on the granting of lands to powerful merchant interests in London.

The colony was attacked in 1778 by the Willing Expedition and then overrun in 1779–81 by Spanish forces under Bernardo de Gálvez, culminating in the Siege of Pensacola.

Both Floridas remained loyal to Great Britain during the American War of Independence. Spain participated indirectly in the war as an ally of France and captured Pensacola from the British in 1781. In the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war, the British ceded both Floridas to Spain. The same treaty recognized the independence of the United States, directly to the north.

Spanish Rule

1784-1821

Spain continued to administer East and West Florida as separate provinces. The Spanish offered favorable terms for acquiring land, which attracted many settlers from the newly formed United States. There were several territorial disputes between the US and Spain, some resulting in military action.

4 Reales, Silver. 32.2 x 33.7 mm. 1789 [3]

This silver coin was struck at the occasion of the proclamation of king Charles IV (1788-1808) in East Florida in 1789.

On it is a Yucca-flower (Yucca Agavoideae-Asparagaceae) between the castle of Castile in chief and the lion of Leon in base.

The legend reads: LA FLOR(ida) ORIENTAL PER ZESPED(es) PROCLAM(ación) 1789.

The Zespedes mentioned is Vicente Manuel de Céspedes (1721-’94) governor of East Florida, 1784-’90.

Rebellious States during Spanish Rule

State of Muskogee

1799-1803

English adventurer William Augustus Bowles designed this flag after a congress of Creeks and Seminoles elected him director general of the State of Muskogee in 1799. The capital of this state was the Indian village of Mikasuke (near present day Tallahassee). Bowles was captured, turned over to Spanish authorities in 1803, and later died in a Havana prison. The State of Muskogee came to an end.

Republic of West Florida

1810

This flag flew over the Free and Independent State of West Florida from September 23 to December 6, 1810. This state covered the area below the thirty-first parallel between the Mississippi and Pearl Rivers — now a part of Louisiana. The flag later became the unofficial ensign of the South in 1860-61 and inspired Harry McCarthy to compose the well-known song, “The Bonnie Blue Flag.”

Amelia Island

1817

In 1817 American citizens, desiring the independence of Florida, sponsored an expedition into the Spanish-territory led by Gregor MacGregor, a veteran of Latin American revolutions. The group occupied Amelia Island on June 20 and raised a white flag with a green cross. Four months later they were forced to leave, and their flag was all but forgotten.

Territory of Florida

1822-1845

This period in the history of Florida is characterizied by the extermination of the Seminole people in the Seminole Wars (1816 ca-1858) ending with an estimated 100 Seminoles still refusing to leave and moving deep into the Florida Everglades to live on land that was unwanted by white settlers.

Seal of the Territory of Florida used 1838-‘47

The Territory of Florida had a seal which may be described as follows: An American eagle with outspread wings resting on a bed of clouds occupies the center of a circular field. In the right talon of the eagle are three arrows, in the left an olive branch. Above the eagle is a semi-circle of thirteen stars. Around the outer circle is the legend, “THE TERRITORY OF FLORIDA.” The diameter of the seal is two inches.

State Archives of Florida, Image Number RC07792; Year 18—Shelf number: G05161q.

Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/30853

State of Florida

1845-present

Florida became the twenty-seventh state in the United States on 3 March 1845.

Unofficial eagle pattern seal

Beginning in the 1850s, a variation of the state’s territorial seal came into unofficial use as a state symbol of Florida. This design modified the territorial seal by strengthening the eagle image and changing the bed of clouds below the eagle to a bed of cactus. Several references from the Civil War period use this image as the coat of arms or seal of Florida. In color the image was still used until 1876.[4]

Arms

Civil War

1861-1865

Florida joined the Confederate States of America at the beginning of the Civil War, as third of the original seven states to secede from the Union, following Lincoln's 1860 election. With the smallest population, nearly half of them slaves, Florida could only send 15,000 troops to the Confederate States Army

Ordinance of Secession.

We, the People of the State of Florida in Convention assembled, do solemnly ordain, publish and declare: That the State of Florida hereby withdraws herself from the Confederacy of States existing under the name of the United States of America, and from the existing Government of said States; and that all political connection between her and the Government of said States ought to be and the same is hereby totally annulled, and said union of States dissolved; and the State of Florida is hereby declared a Sovereign and Independent Nation; and that all ordinances heretofore adopted in so far as they create or recognize said Union are rescinded; and all laws or parts of laws in force in this State, in so far as they recognize or assent to said Union be and they are hereby repealed.

Done in open Convention, January 10th, A.D. 1861 

First state seal and coloured version [5]

An impression of Florida's first state seal pattern was embossed on Florida's Ordinance of Secession to certify it as official in January 1861. Although Florida retained the same official state seal throughout the war, the design apparently did not prove popular and was used only for certifying documents

The picture on the seal showed the map of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico with four sailimg vessels. In base is a shore with a palm tree and a cocoa tree and two yucca plants and cotton plands and tobacco on the sinister. A virgin symbolising Liberty is sitting on the shore, around her crates and barrels. The arms of the Confederates is leaning against the cocoa-tree, it has but eight pales, below a blue chief. instead of the thirteen of the arms of the United States.

Secession Flag 1861

Collection Museum of Florida History

Florida's Secession Flag

Helen Broward, of Broward's Neck in Duval County, and other southern women who supported the secessionist cause made and presented this flag to Florida Governor Madison S. Perry. It was unfurled by Governor-elect John Milton on the east porch of the state capitol when the delegates signed Florida's Ordinance of Secession on January 11, 1861. The three large stars represent the first three states to leave the Union: South Carolina, Mississippi, and Florida. The flag's motto, "The Rights of the South at All Hazards!", echoes the uncompromising position of southern supporters on the eve of the Civil War. The banner reportedly hung above the speaker's desk in the Florida House of Representatives throughout the war.

At the war's end, the banner still hung in the capitol and reportedly was taken as a trophy by a Union army officer during the postwar occupation of the building. It is recorded that this officer later felt guilty about taking the banner and gave it to a Mrs. Hasson, the wife of a military doctor, to return it to the state. The Hassons moved to the western U.S. shortly after this incident. It was not until 1911 that Mrs. Hasson sent the flag to a Florida member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, who then returned it to the State of Florida. [6]

On 8 February 1861 the Legislature delegated the power of creating a flag to the Governor. Since Florida soon joined the Confederacy, the flag selected by the Governor on 13 September 1861 represented only a State instead of an independent nation. The flag probably was little used, for no contemporary picture is available and the illustration given here is reconstructed from a written description. The seal shows an oak, the Gulf of Mexico, a stand of flags, and military equipment surrounded by the motto IN GOD IS OUR TRUST    FLORIDA.  [7]

In early May 1865, Edward M. McCook’s Union was assigned to re-establish Federal control and authority in Florida. Governor Milton committed suicide rather than submit to Union occupation. On May 13, Col. George Washington Scott surrendered the last active Confederate troops in the state to McCook. On May 20, General McCook read Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation during a ceremony in Tallahassee, officially ending slavery in Florida. That same day, his troopers raised the U.S. flag over the state capitol building. Tallahassee was the next to last Confederate state capital to fall to the Union army. Austin, Texas fell the next month.

The Florida State Seal

After the Civil War the Constitution of 1865 provided for the use of a seal.

Constitution of 1865:

CONSTITUTION OR FORM OF GOVERNMENT

for the

PEOPLE OF FLORIDA

ARTICLE III.

Executive Department.

Section 13. The State Seal last heretofore used, (until altered by the General Assembly,) shall continue to be the Great Seal of the State, and shall be kept by the Governor for the time being, and used by him officially.

A new seal was adopted according the Constitution of 25 February 1868:

CONSTITUTION

of the

STATE OF FLORIDA

Adopted February 25, 1868.

ARTICLE XVI.

Miscellaneous.

Section 20. The Legislature shall, at the first session, adopt a seal for the State, and such seal shall be of the size of the American silver dollar. But said seal shall not again be changed after its adoption by the Legislature; and the Governor shall, by his proclamation, announce that said seal has become the Great Seal of the State. 

So the Legislature, acting quickly upon the mandate, passed and sent to Governor Harrison Reed a Joint Resolution on August 6, 1868 specifying “That a Seal of the size of the American silver dollar, having in the center thereof a view of the sun's rays over a high land in the distance, a cocoa tree, a steamboat on water, and an Indian female scattering flowers in the foreground, encircled by the words, 'Great Seal of the State of Florida: In God We Trust', be and the same is hereby adopted as the Great Seal of the State of Florida."

Seal of 1868

Arms after the seal of 1868, (1876)

Emblem, ca. 1900

Seal until 1970

In 1970, more than 100 years after the first specifications were drawn, the Florida Legislature made one change in the official description (CH. 15.03). The cocoa tree was replaced by the sabal palmetto palm (the state tree of Florida since 1953), the headdress was removed from the Indian woman (headdresses were only worn by male indians), and the woman was depicted as a Florida Seminole Indian (originally she was an Indian of the western plains) changing "cocoa tree" in the former language to "Sabal palmetto palm." The sabal palmetto palm had been designated as State Tree in 1953.

Seal 1970

The current seal was approved in 1985.

In 1985, Secretary of State George Firestone presented the revised Great Seal of the State of Florida to the Governor and the Cabinet. The previous State Seal had several errors which were corrected in in the 1985 Seal. This revised Seal has a Seminole Indian woman rather than a Western Plains Indian, the steamboat is more accurate, and the cocoa palm has been changed to a sabal palm as the Legislature prescribed in 1970.

1985 seal, colored and black-and-white version

2006 “In God We Trust” was adopted as the official state motto in the 2006 Florida Legislative Session: 

Florida's present Constitution, (Art. II, Sec. 4), continues to require the seal to be prescribed by law.

The present provisions about the State Seal read as follows:

The 2016 Florida Statutes

Title IV

Executive branch

Chapter 15

Secretary of State

 15.03 State seal.—

 (1)The great seal of the state shall be of the size of the American silver dollar, having in the center thereof a view of the sun’s rays over a highland in the distance, a sabal palmetto palm tree, a steamboat on water, and an Indian female scattering flowers in the foreground, encircled by the words “Great Seal of the State of Florida: In God We Trust.”

 (2)(a)The Department of State shall be the custodian of the great seal of the state.

 (b)The great seal of this state shall also be the seal of the Department of State, and the department may certify under said seal, copies of any statute, law, resolution, record, paper, letter or document, by law placed in its custody, keeping and care, and such certified copy shall have the same force and effect in evidence, as the original would have.

 (3)Only the Department of State shall be authorized to affix the seal to any document for the purpose of attesting, certifying, or otherwise formalizing such document. Any facsimile or reproduction of the great seal shall be manufactured, used, displayed, or otherwise employed by anyone only upon the approval of the Department of State. The Department of State may grant a certificate of approval upon application to it by any person showing good cause for the use of the seal for a proper purpose. The Department of State may adopt reasonable rules for the manufacture or use of the great seal or any facsimile or reproduction thereof. Any person violating the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s.775.082 or s. 775.083.

History.—s. 4, ch. 1, 1845; RS 75; GS 76; RGS 90; CGL 112; s. 1, ch. 29841, 1955; s. 1, ch. 65-209; ss. 10, 35, ch. 69-106; (2)(a) formerly s. 21, Art. IV of the Constitution of 1885, as amended; converted to statutory law by s. 10, Art. XII of the Constitution as revised in 1968; s. 1, ch. 70-300; s. 11, ch. 71-136; s. 1, ch. 80-59. [9]

Commentary

Through the years, interpretations of the elements of the Great Seal have differed considerably. The steamboat, for instance, has been depicted in a variety of ways. The various images of the Indian female have drawn criticism from historians conscious of her clothing. The earliest official Great Seal pictured a mountainous background, something absent from the Florida terrain. Another effort showed a feather headdress on the Indian, a blunder insomuch as Indian males wore the headdresses.

Through it all, however, the elements in the Great Seal have remained consistent. Section 15.03 of the Florida Statutes in addition to specifying elements of the Great Seal, provides that the Department of State shall be the custodian of it, and that the Department of State alone has the authority to approve its use or display as defined further in Florida Administrative Rule 1-2.0021. A further provision prohibits any commercial use of the Great Seal.

Police

Badge

Sleeve Patch

Florida State Area Command

Crest

Description

That for the regiments and separate battalions of the Florida Army National Guard:  From a wreath of colors, an alligator statant Proper.

Symbolism

The alligator is a native of Florida.

Background

The crest was approved for color bearing organizations of the State of Florida on 11 January 1924.

Distinctive Unit Insignia

Description

A gold color metal and enamel device 1 1/8 inches (2.86 cm) in height and 1 1/16 inches (2.70 cm) in width overall consisting of a raised gold modified front view depiction, on an oblong gold recessed base, of the State Arsenal (St. Francis Barracks) between at top seven alternating rays of yellow, red, white, blue, white, red, and yellow forming an arc and in base a blue oblong-shaped area bearing an undulating gold scroll inscribed "WE ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE" in blue letters.

Symbolism

The history of St. Francis Barracks, St. Augustine, is also the history of Florida.  The property on which the Barracks stand was originally the site of a Franciscan Monastery and Convent, constructed initially of logs in 1588 by the Spanish who founded St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States.  The existing walls of coquina rock of the Monastery were built during the 1750's.  Florida was ceded by treaty to England in 1763 and the Monastery was converted by the British to a military reservation.  Again by treaty, Florida was returned to Spain in 1783 and the Monastery served as Spanish headquarters until 1821 when the United States gained control of Florida and the Monastery as St. Francis Barracks served as a United States Army military post until 1900.  From 1907, it has been the Headquarters of the Florida National Guard.  The yellow and red rays refer to the Spanish settlement of St. Augustine and subsequent rule of Florida; the white and red rays refer to the twenty years of English occupation, and with the blue ray allude to final control by the United States.  The Barracks are situated on Marine Street and face Matazas Bay alluded to by the blue area in base, the undulating motto scroll simulating waves.

Background

The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment and noncolor bearing units of the Florida Army National Guard on 3 May 1971.  It was amended to reduce the size of the badge on 13 April 1977.  The insignia was redesignated effective 30 December 1983, for Headquarters, State Area Command, Florida Army National Guard

Shoulder Sleeve Insignia

Description

On a red shield 2 1/2 inches (6.35 cm) in width and 3 inches (7.62 cm) in height, a trace outline of "Castillo de Marcos" in white.

Background

The shoulder sleeve insignia was originally approved for Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, Florida Army National Guard on 7 March 1949.  It was redesignated for Headquarters, State Area Command, Florida Army National Guard on 30 December 1983.  (TIOH Dwg. No. A-1-478)

Tribes

Miccosukee Tribe

The Miccosukee historically inhabited the upper Tennessee Valley in present-day Georgia, where they were originally part of the Upper Chiaha. Later they split: the Miccosukee (Lower Chiaha) migrated northeast to the Carolinas and the Upper Chiaha, also known as Muscogee, migrated west to northern Alabama. Under continuing encroachment pressure from European-American settlers, many migrated to northern Florida during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Lower Chiaha comprised the major part of the Seminole tribe, which formed in the eighteenth century in Florida through a process of ethnogenesis. They numbered about 6,000 by the early 19th century. About 2,000 Upper Creek (Red Sticks), who were Creek speakers, joined them after defeat in the Creek War of 1813-1814. Although East and West Florida were under Spanish control, United States forces invaded in 1818 in the First Seminole War, in retaliation for Indian raids against settlers in Georgia.

In 1821 the United States (US) acquired Florida from Spain, and it increased pressure for removal against the Seminole/Creek from Florida. It relocated several thousand Seminole and hundreds of Black Seminoles, who lived in close association as allies, to the Indian Territory. They were originally given land under Creek administration and later given a separate reservation.

Those who remained in Florida fought against US forces during the second and third Seminole Wars. They had moved into central Florida and the Everglades to try to evade European-American settlement pressure. During this period, the Miccosukee mixed with the Creek-speaking Seminole, but many maintained their Mikasuki language and identity.

It is a Miccosukee belief that life spins in a circle starting in the east and moving to the north, west, and south. The colors of the Miccosukee flag represent these four points of the compass. East is represented by the color yellow, north by red, west by black, and south by white. The Miccosukee Tribe adopted this flag in 1962.

Seminole Tribe

Seminole Tribal Council seal

Short history of the Seminole Tribe of Florida [10]

Indian Resistance and Removal

In the early days of its existence, the fledgling United States government carried out a policy of displacement and extermination against the American Indians in the eastern US, systematically removing them from the path of "white" settlement. Until 1821, Florida remained under the control of the government of Spain but the US Territories of Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana were its covetous next-door neighbors. It was clear that the US wanted the Spaniards out of Florida and was willing to consider any means, including warfare, to acquire the rich land.

Osceola and Abiaka

Though his exploits were not as well publicized, Seminole medicine man Abiaka may have been more important to the internal Seminole war machine than Osceola.

No Surrender!

By May 10, 1842, when a frustrated President John Tyler ordered the end of military actions against the Seminoles, over $20 million had been spent, 1500 American soldiers had died and still no formal peace treaty had been signed.

Survival In The Swamp

The Seminoles began the 20th century where they had been left at the conclusion of the Seminole Wars - in abject poverty, hiding out in remote camps in the wet wilderness areas of South Florida.

The Council Oak

A special generation of Seminole leaders - children of that last generation to hide in the swamps - began to meet regularly beneath a huge oak tree on the Hollywood reservation.

Seminoles Today

The Seminole Tribe of Florida has matured both politically and financially.

The Future

The challenge of maintaining the unique Seminole culture while operating in the mainstream economy is the priority for today's Seminole Tribe of Florida.

For more information about the government of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, please see these articles in the Extracts of the 40th Anniversary edition of the Seminole Tribune:

Tribal Founders' Interview Series

Bibliography

The Seminole Tribe of Florida currently uses this flag, which features the four traditional colors of the Seminole and Miccosukee people. The central seal - with its fire and open, palm-thatched hut, called a chickee - represents the tribal council.

Chickee or Seminole hut