Welcome
The 8 Flags of Amelia Island
Discover the only United States location where eight flags have
flown
FRENCH ATTEMPTS
AT SETTLEMENT 1564
The French established a
short-lived settlement, in
1564, near Jacksonville
at the mouth of the St. Johns River. During this period
there was no single official flag for France. Their flag
may have had a blue field which bore the royal golden
fleurs-de-lys. The French also occupied Pensacola from
1719 to 1722 during the War of the Quadruple Alliance.
FIRST SPANISH
OCCUPATION
1565 - 1763
The Burgundian saltire,
or Cross of Burgundy,
represented Spanish rule in Florida from 1565 to 1763.
The X-shaped cross symbolized the rough branches
of the trees on which Saint Andrew, the patron saint
of Burgundy, was crucified. The flag was introduced
into Spain by Philip I, Duke of Burgundy, and was later
established as one of the country’s banners by his son
Charles I, in 1516.
BRITISH OCCUPATION
1763-1784
The red Cross of St. George,
the patron saint of England,
was the major element of
the British flag. In combination with the white Scottish
Cross of St. Andrew, it formed the Union flag. This flag
flew over Florida from 1763 until 1784.
PATRIOTS FLAG 1812
As Spanish power was
declining in Florida, a
group of 70 Georgians and
nine Floridians crossed
the St. Marys River to Amelia Island on March 13, 1812,
to establish the “Territory of East Florida.” They read a
manifesto and raised a flag with the Latin inscription,
“Salus populi lex suprema,” or “The safety of the people,
the supreme law.” President James Madison refused to
acknowledge their claim, and the movement failed.
1 0 | Discover Nassau 2019
GREEN CROSS FLAG 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.
MEXICAN
REVOLUTIONARY
FLAG 1817
Irwin and Hubbard were
joined by the pirate Luis
Aury, who gained control and raised the Mexican rebel
flag. U.S. troops occupied the island in December, 1817,
and held it “in trust for Spain.”
NATIONAL FLAG OF
THE CONFEDERACY
1861-1862
Confederates took over
Fort Clinch in April, 1861,
but federal troops regained it on March 3, 1862, and
occupied Fernandina for the duration of the War.
UNITED STATES
1821-PRESENT
Spain ceded Florida to the
United States in 1821. Work
began on Fort Clinch in
1847. In the 1850s, Fernandina moved from Old Town
to become the terminus for Florida’s first cross-state
railroad. Organized by Senator David Yulee, the railroad
ran from Fernandina to Cedar Key. Fernandina’s Historic
District retains evidence of the town’s greatest period of
prosperity. Tourists flocked here via steamboats direct
from New York to stay in two elegant hotels. Shipping
boomed with lumber, phosphate and naval stores. The
Spanish-American War fostered gun running from the
local port, and troops again occupied Fort Clinch. After
the turn of the century, tourism surged southward.