BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana officials are unveiling a redesign of Louisiana’s state flag that keeps the pelican but shows blood on the bird’s chest.
Louisiana’s blue flag shows a mother pelican feeding her chicks in a nest. Historical descriptions also include three drops of blood on the mother’s breast as a sign of the state’s willingness to sacrifice itself for its citizens.
The new version of the flag — to be officially shown for the first time Monday — is in keeping with a bill passed by lawmakers in 2006 that requires new state flags to show the drops of blood.
The redesign will be unveiled at the swearing in of Lt. Gov.-elect Jay Dardenne and his top aide, Tom Schedler, who is taking over from Dardenne as secretary of state.