There was a West Florida and East Florida — They were distinct British colonies created in 1763 after Britain acquired territory from France and Spain following the Seven Years' War. 

On March 3, 1845, Florida became the twenty-seventh state. Citizens of Tallahassee presented incoming Governor William D. Moseley with a flag that flew at his inauguration. This first flag was never formally adopted due to disagreements between the Florida Senate and House of Representatives, particularly over the motto. As a result, Florida had no official flag until after the Civil War. The flag shown here is reconstructed from a written description. 

Unofficial "secession" flags were flying in many parts of the state even before Florida left the Union. "The Ladies of Broward's Neck" in Duval County presented this flag to Governor Madison Starke Perry. It was displayed at the Capitol when the Ordinance of Secession was signed on January 11, 1861. 

After Florida seceded from the Union in January 1861, a number of unofficial flags flew over the state. The general assembly passed an act directing Governor Madison S. Perry to adopt "an appropriate device for a State flag which shall be distinctive in character." Six months later the governor had the secretary of state record the description of Florida's first official flag. Whether it was ever raised over the Capitol or in the field is unknown. 

The Constitutional Convention of 1868 provided Florida with its second official state flag. It declared that the legislature should, as soon as convenient, "adopt a State Emblem having the design of the Great Seal of the State impressed upon a white ground of six feet six inches fly and six feet deep." 

Because the flag when furled lacked color, the Legislature in 1899 submitted to the electorate for ratification in 1900 an amendment to the Constitution adding diagonal red bars. 

The current design of Florida's state flag was adopted in 1900. In that year, Florida voters ratified a constitutional amendment based on an 1899 joint resolution of the state legislature to add diagonal red bars, in the form of a St. Andrew's cross, to the flag.

In the rewriting of the Constitution in 1968, the dimensions were dropped and became statutory language. The flag is described in these words: "The seal of the state, of diameter one half the hoist, in the center of a white ground. Red bars in width one fifth the hoist extending from each corner toward the center, to the outer rim of the seal."