Minutes ago, Waco Rep. Jim Dunnam successfully got his bill officially creating a flag for the governor’s office passed through the House, albeit not exactly the one he wanted. The flag described in his HB 2500 would have had a slight resemblance to the flag of Russia, with horizontal stripes of white, blue, and red a part of the overall design. It was patterned after the pilot flag of the Republic of Texas from 1839.
Phil King, R-Weatherford, didn’t care for that, and pushed an amendment changing the pattern to a de facto design that apparently was used in the Sixties and Seventies, according to the Flags of the World website.
“Vote America, not Russia,” King jokingly said.
Once King’s predominantly blue flag won out, Joe Deshotel came to the back mic and shot back at King: “I think it’s appropriate since Texas is turning blue that we have a blue flag,” the Port Arthur Democrat said, to a mixture of howls and laughter.
This article appears in May 1 • 2009.