Hey Walrus,

Here's the history of the present flag:

A joint resolution of the legislature in 1899, approved by state voters in 1900, made our current State Flag the official banner of Florida. "The seal of the state, in diameter one-half the hoist, shall occupy the center of a white ground. Red bars, in width one-fifth the hoist, shall extend from each corner towards the center, to the outer rim of the seal."

Between 1868 and 1900, Florida's state flag consisted of a white field with the state seal in the center. During the late 1890s, Governor Francis P. Fleming suggested that a red cross be added, so that the banner did not appear to be a white flag of truce or surrender when hanging still on a flagpole.

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It is generally accepted the the red bars were adopted after reconstruction to "quietly" be a tribute to, and reminder of the Confederacy. True, it's not the same color, but many other southern states did something similar.