Facts and Trivia about our great state the
Republic of North Carolina.

Giovanni da Verrazano c.1480-1527, Italian navigator and explorer. Exploring the coast of North America for France, he may have been the first European to set foot on North Carolina soil.

Roanoke Island 12 miles long and 3 miles wide, off the NE coast of North Carolina between Albemarle and Pimlico sounds, site of the earliest English colony in North America. The first colonists, sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh, landed in Aug. 1585 but returned to England in 1586. A second group, arriving in 1587, and mysteriously disappeared by the time additional supplies were brought from England in 1591. Artifacts from the lost colony are displayed in Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on the island.

North Carolina was the first colony to fight it's English governor. Some colonists along the coast did not like the unfair taxes on their trade with other colonies. They put their governor in jail in 1677, and ran the colony themselves until a new governor showed up in 1683.

North Carolina was the first colony to tell her delegates at the Continental Congress to vote for independence from England. After war , the state at first did not accept the Constitution. The people in those days were afraid of having too strong a federal government. Under North Carolina's own constitution, they had a bill of rights to protect them. The leaders agreed to add the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution. Then North Carolina voted to become a state too.

Raleigh, North Carolina has the distinction of being the only state capital to have been established on land specifically purchased by the state for its government seat. The city's founding fathers called Raleigh the “City of Oaks.”

The Cardinal was selected by popular choice as our State Bird on March 4th, 1943. March 4th also happens to be Confederate Flag Day.

OUR FIRST FLAG..."Be it ordained by this Convention, and it is hereby ordained by the authority of the same, That the Flag of North Carolina shall consist of a red field with a white star in the centre, and with the inscription, above the star, in a semi-circular form, of "May 20th, 1775," and below the star, in a semi-circular form, of "May 20th, 1861." That there shall be two bars of equal width, and the length of the field shall be equal to the bar, the width of the field being equal to both bars: the first bar shall be blue, and second shall be white: and the length of the flag shall be one-third more than its width." [Ratified the 22nd day of June, 1861.]

It is interesting to examine the significance of the dates found on the flag. The first date, "May 20, 1775," refers to the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. The second date appearing on the state flag of 1861 is that of "May 20th, 1861." This date commemorated the secession of the State from the Union,

This state flag, adopted in 1861, is said to have been issued to North Carolina regiments of state troops during the summer of 1861 and borne by them throughout the war. It was the only flag, except the national and Confederate colors, used by North Carolina troops during the War for Southern Independence. This flag existed until 1885, when the Legislature adopted a new model. See FLAGS

OUR STATE SONG...click HERE

The General Assembly of 1893 (chapter 145) adopted the words "Esse Quam Videri" as the State's Motto and directed that these words with the date "20 May, 1775," be placed with our Coat of Arms upon the Great Seal of the State.

The words "Esse Quam Videri" mean "To Be Rather Than To Seem." Nearly every State has adopted a motto, generally in Latin. The reason for mottoes being in Latin is that the Latin language is far more condensed and terse than the English. The three words, "Esse Quam Videri," require at least six English words to express the same idea.

Curiosity has been aroused to learn the origin of our State Motto. It is found in Cicero's essay on Friendship (Cicero de Amnicitia, Chapter 26).

It is somewhat unique that until the act of 1893 the sovereign State of North Carolina had no motto since its declaration of independence. It was one of the few states which did not have a motto and the only one of the original thirteen without one.

[Last updated 09/14/00]