My wife and I have just returned from a trip to Antarctica via Chile, and much to my surprise, I saw flying over Santiageo what appeared to be the Texas State Flag!  Two broad stripes, white one above the red, a blue field to the left and a single white star in the blue field.  Closer examination showed the Chile blue field is only the width of the white stripe, while the Texas blue field is the total width of the flag.  But the resemblence is uncanny.
    I know the lore that the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star, springs from a single-star-flag flown in a revolt against Spain in what became Florida, and lower Alabama area c. early 19th century, and that it survives today in the Texas and North Carolina State flags.  Interestingly, Chile achieved its independence in the first decade of the 19th century, led by unlikely sounding heroes like "Bernard O'Higgins.."
    But I don't think the Texas flag evolved until the second third of the 19th century.
    In any case, does anybody out there know whether the flags have a common root.

Randy Cabell

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