Marketing surveys have shown South Carolina’s palmetto tree trails only Texas’ lone-star flag in recognition and popularity.
WOO HOO!!!! We're #2!!!!!!
Posted on 07/18/2004 6:17:55 AM PDT by aomagrat
On a hunch six years ago, Chip Prezioso opened a shop specializing in items emblazoned with South Carolina’s palmetto tree and crescent moon logo.
He couldn’t have picked a better time because the state was about to go palmetto crazy.
Now the symbols are seemingly everywhere, from bumper stickers, T-shirts and flip-flops to neckties, golf balls and jewelry. Prezioso’s business — Palmetto Promotions, off Columbia’s Rosewood Drive near Williams-Brice Stadium — is on track to sell more than $1 million in merchandise this year.
“I think South Carolina has been beat up over a lot of things. We’re like 49th in SAT scores and first in all the categories you don’t want,” Prezioso said. “But we have the best-looking logo in the country. It’s something we can all be proud of.”
While many point to the logo’s classic design, the palmetto sales boom is also seen as a backlash to South Carolina’s flap over the Confederate flag, removed from atop the State House in 2000 after years of fighting and media attention that often portrayed the state’s 4 million residents as good ol’ boys.
The palmetto and moon, some observers say, is a way to show pride in the state and the South without all the baggage that comes with the rebel stars and bars.
“The palmetto image is much more palatable,” said University of South Carolina history professor Dan Carter, adding that the state’s official symbol appeals more to the “Southern Living coffee-table crowd.”
Marketing surveys have shown South Carolina’s palmetto tree trails only Texas’ lone-star flag in recognition and popularity.
“We’re not quite like Texas, but there’s this kind of state pride that goes back a very long way,” Carter said.
The logo is based on South Carolina’s flag. The banner honors Col. William Moultrie’s troops for their defense of Sullivan’s Island in the Revolutionary War. It shows a white palmetto tree — similar to a palm tree, but native to the state’s coast — and a crescent moon on a deep blue background.
The dark blue, close to an indigo, matched the uniform Moultrie’s troops wore, and the moon shape matched an emblem on their caps. The palmetto tree was added in 1861 when South Carolina left the Union and needed its own “national” flag.
The tree honors Moultrie’s men, who built a makeshift fort with palmetto trunks and sand. British cannon fire and other weapons bounced off the spongy wood and stuck in the sand, giving the Americans a stunning victory just days before the Declaration of Independence was signed.
It’s a great story and gives the logo even more power, especially in a state that romanticizes its war heroes whether they fought for American independence or to leave the United States, Carter said.
Plus, he said, it provides a sense of belonging in a close-knit state. “I have a daughter that spent much of her life in Ohio,” Carter said. “You can imagine Ohioans, while they might have an Ohio State T-shirt, aren’t running around decorating their houses with buckeyes and buckeye items.”
South Carolina’s governor and other top officials are often seen in ties with palmetto trees on them or, on casual days, in their palmetto tree and crescent moon golf shirts.
The state’s chief justice is almost never seen without some kind of palmetto jewelry. And each of Prezioso’s dress shirts have the logo embroidered somewhere.
At Prezioso’s shop, three embroidery machines sew logos on shirts 24 hours a day for both his shop and retailers who buy from him wholesale. He had just one machine six years ago when he started pushing palmetto tree merchandise. And he has doubled his work force to a couple of dozen employees.
Prezioso and his company trademarked the image a decade ago. It been frequently violated since palmetto products took off, but he said he doesn’t have the time or energy to fight his competitors in court.
“I just tell them look at the palmetto tree in the logo. If it looks like a mop or a chicken leg or a stalk of broccoli, it isn’t ours,” Prezioso said.
The image has morphed over the years, combined with firefighter logos, soccer balls and dozens of other things. It can now be found in about every color scheme. The most popular outside of the blue-on-white is the orange-and-purple of Clemson University and the garnet-and-black of the University of South Carolina.
“It’s a good way to show you are proud of your state and proud of your school without being so in-your-face,” Prezioso said.
Prezioso kept expecting the logo’s popularity to crash, but the introduction of new merchandise — such as flip-flops that have a palmetto image cut into the sole to leave an impression on the sand at the beach — keep fueling sales.
Marketing surveys have shown South Carolina’s palmetto tree trails only Texas’ lone-star flag in recognition and popularity.
WOO HOO!!!! We're #2!!!!!!
It looks like the flag of the Islamic Republic of South Carolina.
It is pretty.
The crescent moon has been a symbol of the south since colonial days.
If you are a man over 60 years of age, the saw palmetto is your (and your prostate's) best friend.
Are they still giving in-state tuition to New Jerseyites at Clempson? heh heh
A Low Country Sandlapper bump...
As someone from Democrat controlled NC, you guys have run the rats out of Columbia, and have a great flag. Especially when it is orange :)
As for the flag pole in Laredo, this is a wonderful beacon for immigrants from south of the border who are heading north. It will help them find their way.
Click Here if you want to be added to or removed from this list.
That's 'cause we try harder - no, wait, that's the car rental place!
We're really number one ...
We had it first!
The stars and bars never flew over the capitol. Typical reporting from the Snake.
It makes me said to have to say it. I always liked your flag. But it will never be the same to me.
Dude, that flagpole does not weigh anywhere close to 52 tons.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
