Masonic History • West Florida 1810 By R.∴W.∴ Glen L. Garner • Masonic Historical Feature

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The Bonnie Blue Flag Florida's Lone Star, Liberty, and a Masonic Connection "One Star. Five Points. One Brotherhood."

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Long before Texas became known as the Lone Star State, another Lone Star flew over a newly declared republic on the Gulf Coast. On September 23, 1810, a simple blue banner bearing a single white star was raised over the captured Spanish fort at Baton Rouge. Its story would become intertwined with the history of West Florida, American independence - and the traditions of Freemasonry.

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A Flag Born In Revolution

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​commanded by Philemon Thomas, with Major Isaac Johnson, a Freemason, of Bardstown and member of Kentucky Lodge No. 8.

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​                                                                                                 Note: The above photo erroneously shows the flag as red

 

 

 

 

 

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Brothers. Historical accounts subsequently connected the five-pointed star on the West Florida banner with those Five Points of Fellowship.

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The Star Behind the Story Why the Bonnie Blue Flag Remains a Compelling Masonic Historical Symbol Was It a Masonic Flag? The careful historical answer is more nuanced than a simple yes or no. The Bonnie Blue Flag was fundamentally the emblem of the independent West Florida movement. No surviving 1810 constitutional document has been located declaring the flag to be an official Masonic flag.

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Yet historical accounts, later Masonic tradition and the history preserved by Feliciana Lodge No. 31, provide a meaningful Masonic association. The blue field has traditionally been interpreted by later Masonic writers in connection with the Blue Lodge, while the five-pointed white star has been associated with the Five Points of Fellowship.

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That distinction matters. The evidence supports a Masonic presence within the social world of the West Florida revolutionary movement and specifically preserves a tradition connecting the star to the Five Points of Fellowship. It does not establish that every participant was a Mason or that the Republic formally adopted a Masonic flag.

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The Woman Behind the Banner According to the principal historical tradition, the famous banner was hastily made by Melissa Johnson, wife of Major Isaac Johnson. Historical accounts identify Melissa Johnson as the maker of the banner and Major Isaac Johnson as a principal military participant in the Baton Rouge operation.

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The flag's symbolism was therefore political first, while the Masonic interpretation of its star became an important part of the historical tradition surrounding the movement.

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Feliciana Lodge No. 31, St. Francisville, LA Preserves the Memory Another important connection emerged only seven years after the rebellion. Feliciana Lodge No. 31, was formally chartered under the authority of The Grand Lodge of Kentucky in 1817 and was later chartered in Louisiana as Feliciana Lodge No. 31.

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[Image Captions] Sept 23, 1810, West Florida Rebellion. On September 23, 1810, the insurgents moved against Fort San Carlos at Baton Rouge,

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The largest historical tradition states that many Felicianians involved in the 1810 rebellion were Masons and preserves the connections between the Bonnie Blue Flag and the Five Points of Fellowship.

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Tthe surviving records are incomplete. LSU archival material indicates that early records from 1817 to 1840 were largely lost in a fire, therefore the absence of a man’s name from surviving records cannot by itself prove that he was not a mason in 1810.

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The History of Qualification

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Tthe strongest conclusion is not that the Bonnie blue Flag was formally declared a Masonic flag but that its five pointed star had a longstanding Masonic association preserved in historical accounts and Louisiana Lodge #31 tradition.

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One Star, A Lasting Legacy

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The Bonnie Blue Flag deserves to be remembered on its own terms. Its original story belongs to West Florida in 1810 - to settlers who challenged Spanish authority, captured Fort San Carlos, established a short lived republic and raised a banner that became one of America’s earliest Lone Star symbols.

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For Freemasons, the story carries an additional layer of meaning. The revolutionary movement was historically described using the language of of the Square and the Five Points of Fellowship. The five pointed star was subsequently identified with those Five Points, giving the simple banner a powerful association with Fellowship and Unity. More than two centuries later, the Bonnie Blue Flag still tells a remarkable American story. It represents independence, the Lone Star tradition, the struggle of the people of West Florida and through its Masonic historical tradition, the enduring ideal of Fellowship among Brothers

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One Star Five points -  One Brotherhood

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Editorial source notes: There from the supplied study of the flag of 1810 and Masonic historical Study of West Florida Rebellion dated September 6th 2025 including its historical and Masonic sources the article intentionally preserves the study’s distinction between documented evidence and later Masonic historical traditions.