Many Flags have flown over Florida since European explorers first landed herein the early sixteenth century. Among them have been the flags of five nations: France, Spain, Great Britain, The United States andthe Confederate States of America.
Numerous other unofficial flags have flown on the peninsula at one time or another, but only written descriptions remain of what these flags looked like.
In 1899, a joint resolution of the Florida Legislature, approved by state voters, made the current State Flag the official banner of Florida.
Discovered in 1513 by Ponce De Leon who claimed it for Spain while searching for the "fountain of youth." He named it Florida from the Spanish definition for "feast of flowers."
The first permanent European settlement in Florida was in 1656 by Spain. The settlement was, as is now, St. Augustine.
Florida designated the sabal palm (Sabal palmetto) as the official state tree in 1953. The sabal palm (also known as cabbage palm, palmetto, or cabbage palmetto) is the most widely distributed palm tree in Florida. It grows in almost any soil and has many uses, including food, medicine, and landscaping. In 1970 the Florida legislature mandated that the sabal palm tree should replace the cocoa palm on the state seal.
Sabal palm trees grow up to 20 m in height. Sabal is a fan palm native to the southeastern United States, Cuba, and the Bahamas. Sabal palms are extremely salt-tolerant (can even grow where washed by sea water at high tide) and are often seen growing near the Atlantic Ocean coast. The hardy sabal palm tree is also frost-tolerant and can survive short periods of temperatures as low as minus (-)14 °C.