The flags of seven nations have flown over Baton Rouge—those of France, England, Spain, West Florida, the Sovereign State of Louisiana, the Confederacy and the United States. Despite this, the original name bestowed by French explorer Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville in 1699 has endured. Meaning “red stick” or “red staff,” the name referred to a tall cypress tree, stripped of its bark and draped with freshly killed animals, that marked the boundary between the hunting grounds of the Bayougoula and Houmas Indian tribes. Learn More...