The 1956 flag: The Georgia state flag was changed Feb. 13, 1956, incorporating a Confederate battle emblem into the design, as a response to the Supreme Court rulings on desegregating schools.

Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, right, and Cecil Alexander, left, the designer of the new Georgia state flag, pose with the banner in the governors office at the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2001.

1879. In 1879, the General Assembly adopted the state's first official flag. It had a vertical blue bar down the entire left side with three horizontal bars -- red, white and red -- on the right side.

March 21, 2012: In this photo, a Confederate unit flag that belonged to the Emmett Rifles, a Georgia-based company during the Civil War, hangs at Fort McAllister state park in Richmond, Ga., 148 ...

A segregation-era flag bearing the Confederate battle emblem was changed in 2001 and then again in 2004 amid strong debate and disagreement. Georgia’s official state flag is actually the third ...