• Year First Flown: 1861
• Designed By: Official Flag Commission
• Design: A blue flag with a white palmetto palm tree placed in the middle, and a white crescent moon placed near the top left corner of the flag.
• Meaning: The blue was used so that the flag would match the color of South Carolina soldiers' uniforms in the late 18th century. The palmetto palm tree has a special history with South Carolina and is a sign of victory and fortitude to the state. The crescent moon was a symbol used by South Carolina during the colonial era and American Revolutionary War.

The design of the current state flag of South Carolina dates all the way back to 1765. At that time, some South Carolina colonists carried a banner in protest of the Stamp Act. This banner consisted of three white crescent moons on top of a blue background, similar to the crescent shape and blue field currently used in the South Carolina state flag design. In 1775, The South Carolina Revolutionary Council of Safety asked Colonel William Moultrie to design a banner for the state's troops. Colonel Moultrie's design was simple and consisted of a crescent shape on a blue flag, which matched the color of his troop's uniforms. 85 years later, on December 20th, 1860, the state of South Carolina seceded from the Union of the United States of America. It was decided that South Carolina, as a new independent nation, needed a new banner to fly. The General Assembly of South Carolina reviewed many different designs, but eventually settled on one that was just a simple change to Colonel Moultrie's flag design from the Revolutionary War. This simple changed included the addition of a Palmetto pine tree to the center of the blue field. The Palmetto is the state tree of South Carolina and was supposedly instrumental Colonel Moultrie and his men in the American Revolutionary War. After the Civil War ended many southern states created new flag designs to symbolize a new start. However, the state of South Carolina was very proud of its flag and chose to keep the same design in honor of the history that is represented.

The Palmetto is both the nickname and tree of South Carolina, and played a very important role in the state's history. Colonel Moultrie, the designer of the original South Carolina military flag, was charged with the protection of Sullivan's Island during the Revolutionary war. In June of 1776, British warships began to fire cannonballs at the fort on Sullivan's Island. However, the cannonballs could not seem to destroy the walls of the fort. This was because the logs used to build the fort were from palmetto trees, which were tough enough to withstand the cannonballs, but soft enough to absorb the shock of the hit. Colonel Moultrie, with the help of the Palmetto Tree, successfully protected Sullivan's Island and the fort was eventually renamed "Fort Moultrie". Since the American Revolutionary War, the Palmetto has continued to be a symbol of victory and fortitude for South Carolina.