The current design, created by Captain LeRoy Reeves of the Tennessee Infantry and approved on April 17, 1905, features three stripes and three stars. These were said by Reeves to refer to “the three grand divisions of the State” (perhaps meaning the lowland regions in the west, the central plateaus, and the Appalachian areas), but they have also been said to represent either the three presidents who lived in Tennessee (Andrew Jackson, James Polk, and Andrew Johnson) or Tennessee’s joining the Union as the third state after the original 13. The colors correspond to those in the Stars and Stripes and the Stars and Bars. Tennessee and neighboring Arkansas are the only states to have red backgrounds for their flags.