April 12, 1776

On April 12, 1776, the delegates to the North Carolina Provincial Congress meeting in Halifax County North Carolina unanimously adopted a resolution empowering North Carolina’s delegates to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia to vote for independence. The “Halifax Resolves” were the first official action by a colony calling explicitly for independence.

Three months later, North Carolina’s delegates (Joseph Hewes, William Hooper, and John Penn) voted in favor of the resolution to declare independence—the Lee Resolution, introduced by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.

When North Carolina seceded as the Civil War was breaking out , the state had no official flag. At the time of secession, a committee was appointed to design a flag for the state. The design that was approved a month later was similar to the current design but bore the dates “May 20, 1861” (the date of secession) and “May 20, 1775” (referring to the now-discredited claim that a Declaration of Independence was adopted in Mecklenburg County on that date). In 1885 the current design was adopted, substituting the date of the Halifax Resolves for the date of secession.

The Halifax Resolves were adopted by the Fourth North Carolina Provisional Congress on April 12, 1776.