SC State University’s flag flies atop Statehouse dome, marking historic moment for HBCUs

Amelia Gay and Kelly Grady, The Post and Courier, Columbia, Jan 19, 2026

More than two decades ago, the South Carolina NAACP started King Day at the Dome as a protest calling for the removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse.

This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the event took on a new historical significance: the S.C. State University flag flew atop the dome for the first time, honoring the state’s flagship HBCU and celebrating the Bulldogs’ 2025 HBCU national championship in football. It was the first time the flag of a historically Black college or university flew on the state’s most prominent flagpole.

State Rep. Hamilton Grant called the moment “monumental,” saying the flag does not only celebrate “the excellence and legacy of South Carolina’s HBCUs,” but also the Bulldogs’ victorious football season.

The Bulldogs won the title on Dec. 13, defeating Prairie View A&M 40-38 in a quadruple overtime in the Celebration Bowl and finishing the season with a 10-3 record. The flag was raised on Jan. 19 — from dawn until dusk — so that it could be presented to the football team ahead of its victory parade in Orangeburg on Jan. 21.

In a social media call to “Bulldog Nation” to be there for the historic occasion, S.C. State called it “A moment of pride. A moment of legacy.”

King Day at the Dome, organized annually by the South Carolina NAACP, includes a prayer service, a march through downtown Columbia and a rally at the Statehouse. This year’s program featured U.S. Sen. Cory Booker as the keynote speaker, along with local elected officials and candidates for statewide offices. The event continues to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while also promoting civil rights awareness and community engagement.

The South Carolina State University flag flies alongside the state and national flags on Statehouse grounds Monday, Jan. 19, 2026.

“You fast forward 20-something years later, and we are now rising on that day and replacing where the Confederate flag once flew with the state’s flagship HBCU flag,” said Grant.

Grant, along with state Rep. Jerry Govan and state Sen. Deon Tedder, requested the honor in a letter sent to Gov. Henry McMaster in December 2025. Grant said the effort followed the realization that SC State’s previous national HBCU championship in the 2020–21 season did not result in the flag being flown above Columbia.

“We assumed that every national championship team gets that flag flown automatically,” said Grant, “not knowing what the process was.”