Four Flags Over New Jersey

"Six Flags Over Texas" is an intriguing concept in amusement park naming. That we should care how many countries have owned the state that the park is in. What are they trying to tell us? Texas is particularly desirable? Texas is not desirable.

Still it is a nice idea. How many flags were over some of our other favorite states?



I am counting the Republic of Hawaii, Russian, Swedish and Dutch settlement (they found themselves in some unexpected places) and the maximum claims of the French and Spanish even though you know they never actually set foot in North Dakota. I am counting states that were even partly owned by a country.

I am not counting Indian claims because I don't think that would be true to the spirit of Six Flags. I am also not counting Confederate claims that were not backed up by state conventions because I think they would have wanted it that way.

I think the most interesting fact here is that no Indian territory was actually stolen originally by the US. Every inch of the United States was previously owned by some other country. I guess that just makes us a fence in the theft of cultural heritage?