Sometimes folks are sad to learn that the crescent shape they see on the South Carolina flag isn’t a moon; it’s actually a gorget. Many controversies arise from the interpretation of that small crescent!
The gorget was originally part of the suit of armor worn by
a medieval knight. The neck or, in French, gorge, was protected by the neck
plate gorget. Attached to the gorget was the breast plate cuirass.
Regiments with badges or other honors also engraved these on
the gorget.
By the end of the 17th century the gorget was the last
remaining vestige of armor. It was worn only as a status symbol linking its
wearer to nobility and the age of chivalry.
Gorgets were worn around the neck by on-duty officers during
the Revolutionary War. From a distance their crescent shape was recognized as a
symbol of rank, and close-up their engraved decoration often testified to their
owner's regimental affiliation and patriotic fervor.
However you “interpret” our beautiful South Carolina flag,
palmetto set on a field of indigo blue, we hope you’ll acknowledge the beauty
of the design.
1The
earliest authenticated portrait of George Washington by Charles Willson Peale
shows him wearing his colonel's uniform of the Virginia Regiment from the
French and Indian War. The portrait was painted after Washington's service in
that war, and several years before he would reenter military service in the
American Revolution. 1772
2
This example belonged to Lieutenant Alexander Hume of the Second South Carolina
Regiment. Note his initials! Its face is ornamented with the liberty pole,
crossed flags and the arms of war above the regiment's motto:
"Libertas.Portior.Vita," or "liberty is more important than
life". According to legend, George Washington presented the gorget to Hume
who wore it for the rest of his military career.
3 Gorget for an Officer of the South Carolina Infantry
Regiment, late 18th century. In the collections of the The Metropolitan Museum
of Art.
4 George Washington wore this gorget, a symbolic remnant of a suit of armor, around his throat as part of the militia uniform, he wore to the Continental Congress in 1775. The gorget is engraved with the coat of arms of the colony of Virginia.
Information from - Hopsewee
Plantation's Post - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1NFr8dpDN6/
Here is another post I came across about the crescent, also related to South Carolina.
"A little time after we were in possession of Fort Johnson, it was thought necessary to have a flag for the purpose of signals: (as there was no national or state flag at that time) I was desired by the council of safety to have one made, upon which, as the state troops were clothed in blue, and the fort was garrisoned by the first and second regiments, who wore a silver cresent on the front of their caps; I had a large blue flag made with a cresent in the dexter corner, to be in uniform with the troops: This was the first American flag which was displayed in South Carolina:"
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