^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity (U.S.)

by Joe McMillan, 14 March 2001

See also:

Sigma Alpha Epsilon

Sigma Alpha Epsilon was the only social fraternity founded in the South before the Civil War. It was established by eight students at the University of Alabama in 1856. The flag is purple. On a yellow canton the letters phi and alpha are inscribed in purple. Below the canton, in lower fly, is a cluster of eight yellow stars in a circle (seven in a ring and one in the center). In the center and fly the Greek letters of the name are inscribed diagonally, rising toward the fly. The canton is officially described as the size and shape of the canton in the U.S. flag, but pictures show it approximately 1/3 the fly and 1/2 the hoist. The stars, which represent the eight founders, are variously all the same size or with the center star larger.

Sources: Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities, 20th ed. (1991) and
www.saefraternity.org/symbols/history.htm

Joe McMillan, 14 March 2001