The Texas Navy Flag

For several years prior to and during the Texas Revolution, the New Orleans shipping firm of McKinney, Williams and Company used this flag as their company ensign. The flag was cleverly designed to resemble the national flag of the United States, in order to fool potential enemies into thinking the McKinney & Williams ship was an official ship of the United States. This flag was flown by the McKinney & Williams steamship, Yellow Stone, when it ferried the Texas Army across the flooded Brazos River to Groce’s Plantation on the way to San Jacinto.

In October 1835, the provisional government of Texas, authorized the creation of the Texas Navy. The design of the McKinney, Williams and Company flag was so successful that it became the first flag of the Texas Navy by executive order issued by President David G. Burnet on April 9, 1836. Burnet’s executive order called for a flag that is “union blue, star central, thirteen stripes prolonged, alternate red and white.”

Following the successful conclusion of the revolution, on December 10, 1836 the Congress of the Republic of Texas formally adopted Burnet’s Texas Navy flag as the official standard for maritime military service. On January 25, 1839 the Congress of the Republic of Texas revisited the question of national symbolism. They abolished the use of the previous national and maritime standards and adopted a new national flag for Texas which we still use today as our state flag.

For more on the Texas Navy visit the Texas Navy article at the Handbook of Texas Online.

Col. Charles M. Yates