<P> That the flag of North Carolina shall consist of a blue union, containing in the center thereof a white star with the letter "N" in gilt on the left and the letter "C" in gilt on the right of said star, the circle containing the same to be one - third the width of the union . The fly of the flag shall consist of two equally proportioned bars; the upper bar to be red, the lower bar to be white; that the length of the bars horizontally shall be equal to the perpendicular length of the union, and the total length of the flag shall be one - third more than its width . That above the star in the center of the union there shall be a gilt scroll in semi-circular form, containing in black letters this inscription "May 20th 1775," and that below the star there shall be a similar scroll containing in black letters the inscription: "April 12th 1776". </P> <P> It bears the dates of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence (May 20, 1775) and of the Halifax Resolves (April 12, 1776), documents that place North Carolina at the forefront of the American independence movement . Both dates also appear on the Great Seal of North Carolina . </P> <P> A former Confederate soldier and then state Adjutant General, Johnston Jones, introduced the bill which led the state legislature to adopt this flag in March 1885 to replace the flag that had been adopted on June 22, 1861, immediately following the state's declaration of secession from the U.S. on May 20, 1861 . The red field of the old flag was replaced by a blue field . This was the first and only flag formally representing the State of North Carolina at the time . </P> <P> During the American Civil War, secessionist leaders spoke of the Mecklenburg Declaration with reverence, attempting to connect it with the state's joining the Confederacy . Confederate leader Jefferson Davis spoke to a Charlotte crowd in September 1864 saying "people of this section were the first to defy British authority and declare themselves free" encouraging them to continue backing the Confederacy's civil war effort . </P>

When was the north carolina state flag adopted
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