Flag of Somalia come up with a design in preparation for independence. The flag was first used in the Trust Territory of Somaliland and the short-lived State of Somaliland, which united on July 1, 1960, to form the Somali Republic. As an ethnic flag, the five-pointed white "Star of Unity" in its center represents the areas where the Somali ethnic group has traditionally resided, namely Djibouti, Somaliland (former British occupied land), the Ogaden region in Ethiopia, the North Eastern Province in Kenya, and southern Somalia (former Italian colony). The Somali flag's light blue backdrop was originally influenced by the flag of the United
Bonnie Blue Flag the 1810 flag of the Republic of West Florida. Variants of the Burnet Flag with a white star, virtually identical to the Bonnie Blue Flag, were also common. Other variants featured the star (of either color) upside down, and/or ringed with the word Texas, with each letter filling one of the gaps of the star. When the state of Mississippi seceded from the Union in January 1861, a flag bearing a single white star on a blue field was flown from the capitol dome. Harry Macarthy helped popularize this flag as a symbol of independence, writing the popular song "The