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The flag of Acadiana, representing the ethnic Acadiana (Cajun) region of the United States state of Louisiana, was designed in 1965 by Thomas J. Arceneaux. Arceneaux was the dean of the College of Agriculture at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and had derived the flag from the University seal. Arceneaux was an early leader of the Louisiana French Renaissance Movement. This was a movement intended to renew interest and pride in the French-Acadian heritage, language, and culture of Louisiana. On July 5,1974 the Louisiana legislature officially adopted Arceneaux's design as the official Acadiana flag through House Concurrent Resolution 143.

Description of the Acadian Flag

The three silver fleurs-de-lis on the blue field represent the French heritage of Acadiana. The fleurs de lis is a symbol of the kings of France.

Louisiana was still under Spanish rule when the Acadians arrived. Since the Acadians thrived in Louisiana, a portion of the flag pays tribute to Spain. The gold tower on a red field represents the Old Arms of Castille, an affluent European Spanish Kingdom.

The gold star on the white field symbolizes Our Lady of the Assumption, patron saint of Acadiana (the star also symbolizes the active participation of the Cajuns in the American Revolution, as soldiers under General Bernardo de Gálvez, Spanish governor of Louisiana).

The Region see main article "acadiana"

In 1971, the Louisiana State Legislature officially recognized twenty-two Louisiana parishes and "other parishes of similar cultural environment" for their "strong French Acadian cultural aspects" (House Concurrent Resolution No. 496, June 6, 1971, authored by Carl W. Bauer of St. Mary Parish), and made The Heart of Acadiana the official name of the region. The official name, however, has not been embraced by the public, which instead has used merely the one-word place name Acadiana in reference to the region. The term can, however, be found on regional maps and highway markers.

Acadiana, as defined by the Louisiana legislature, refers to the area that stretches from just west of New Orleans to the Texas border along the Gulf of Mexico coast, and about 100 miles (160 km) inland to Marksville. This includes the 22 parishes of Acadia, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Calcasieu, Cameron, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Pointe Coupee, St. Charles, St. James, St. John The Baptist, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, Terrebonne, Vermilion, and West Baton Rouge. The total land area is 14,574.105 square miles (37,746.756 km²). At the 2000 census its total population was 1,352,646 residents.