W4UN – Rick

Nashville, Tennesee

The flag of Tennessee was adopted on April 17, 1905 but was first raised in October 10, 1911. The flag contains a red field with a blue vertical band on the fly and a blue disk in the center with three stars in the center. The three stars represent the three geographical divisions of Tennessee and the blue circle symbolizes the unity of the “Grand Divisions”.

Tennessee is called The Volunteer State, a nickname earned during the War of 1812 (thousands of volunteer soldiers from Tennessee played a prominent role in this war, especially during the Battle of New Orleans).

Tennessee has had several nicknames – Tennesseans are sometimes referred to as Volunteers or Big Benders (derived from state nicknames), and Butternuts (first applied to Tennessee civil war soldiers because of the tan color of their uniforms, and later it was sometimes applied to people across the entire state). Other nicknames include:

Big Bend State (referring to the Indian name for the Tennessee River: “the river with the big bend”)

Hog and Hominy State (now obsolete corn and pork products were in great proportion between 1830 and 1840).

The Mother of South-western Statesmen (because Tennessee furnished the U.S. with three presidents and a number of other leaders who served with distinction in high government office.