The South Carolina flag is a simple design of a white palmetto tree under a white crescent moon on a blue field that matched the South Carolina militia in 1775. The palmetto is the state tree, South Carolina’s nickname is “The Palmetto State” and the state flag features the palmetto.
These various tributes are paid to the role of the palmetto in the British attack on a Charleston Harbor log fort in 1776. The wood proved so resilient that British cannon balls either sank into the wood or bounced off, making the fort impenetrable.