No act has been passed by the General Assembly establishing an official
flag for the governor. The Flag for the Governor of Tennessee has been in use since 1939. It is a scarlet flag, with four stars, one in each corner, and the
State Military Crest, a tree with three white stars, in the center.
In 1939, at the request of the adjutant general, one was designed by the US War Department. The central design on the flag is the crest of the National Guard of Tennessee, which is described in a letter from the secretary of war, dated May 28, 1923, as:
...on a wreath argent and gules, upon amount vert a hickory tree properly charged with three mullets one and two argent, the description of which is as follows:
The state of Andrew Jackson- "Old Hickory"- Tennessee, was the Sixteenth state admitted to the union, the original 13 plus 3, and the state flag bears three white stars. The predominant original white population within the state was of English origin, and the twists of the wreath are accordingly white and red. This design was placed upon a red background in the corners of which are placed a 5-pointed star representing the fact that the governor of the state by virtue of his office automatically becomes commander in chief of the National Guard of that state.
The first paragraph means that on a wreath of silver (or white) and red is a green hill upon which is a hickory tree bearing three five-pointed stars, each one separated from the other two, and all three silver (or white).