The Flags of The Western US States
Flags for Outdoor Display, Indoor Display and the Related Flags for Each State.
The below assortment of flags covers each of the State of the Western USA – West of the Mississippi. The order is alphabetical, and there is a brief historic synopsis here with a fuller rendition on the linked page. We would like to thank 50States.com for the summary history for each of the historic texts.
Alaska
In 1926, Alaska Department of the American Legion sponsored a for Alaskan children to help design a flag for the territory.
The winning design was created by a 13-year-old Native American boy, Bennie Benson, from the village of Chignik. Bennie received a 1,000-dollar scholarship and a watch for his winning entry in the flag design contest. This flag design clearly depicts Alaska’s Northern Strentgh.
Arizona
The Arizona state flag which is the official US state flag of Arizona was officially adopted on February 27, 1917, just 5 years after Arizona became an official US state. In 1911, a rifle team from Arizona was competing in Ohio and didn’t have a flag to represent the state. Charles Wilfred Harris, a Colonel in the National Guard and the rifle team captain, quickly drew the design of the flag that is flown today.
Arkansas
The state flag of Arkansas was officially adopted in 1913. The flag’s design depicts a diamond on a red field. It represents the only place in North America where diamonds have been discovered and mined.
The twenty-five white stars around the diamond represent that Arkansas was the twenty-fifth state to join the Union. The top four stars in the center represent that Arkansas was a member…
Colorado
The Colorado State flag was adopted in 1911 by the General Assembly. It consists of three alternate stripes of equal width and at right angles to the staff, the two outer stripes to be blue of the same color as in the blue field of the US flag and the middle stripe to be white, the proportion being a width of two-thirds of its length. There is a circular red ‘C’, of the same color as the red in the United States flag…
Hawaii
The official Hawaiian state flag was adopted in 1845, long before Hawaii became a state of the US. Hawaii was once an independent kingdom (1810 – 1893). The Hawaiian flag was designed at the request of King Kamehameha I. The flag has eight stripes of white, red, and blue that represent the eight main islands. The flag of Great Britain is emblazoned in the upper left corner to honor Hawaii with…
Idaho
The Idaho state flag was officially adopted in 1907 but the design goes back a very long while. It was originally a battle flag used in the Philippines in 1899 during the Spanish American War.
The official Idaho flag has a simple design. The flag is blue with the state symbol in the center and the words “State of Idaho” beneath the seal. The state seal was created in 1890 by Emma Edwards Green…
Iowa
Having gone 75 years without a state standard-bearer, the state flag of Iowa was finally designed in 1917 (by Mrs. Dixie Cornell Gebhardt of Knoxville) and adopted in 1921). Mrs. Gebhardt was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Gebhardt explained that the blue stands for loyalty, justice and truth; the white for purity; and the red for courage, and bears its motto and name.
Kansas
The state flag of Kansas features the official state seal in the center and a sunflower, the official state flower of Kansas, directly above it. Under the sunflower is a bar of gold and light blue which represents the Louisiana Purchase. Under the seal is KANSAS spelled out in all capital letters. The official state flag was adopted many years after Kansas became admitted into statehood. Before the flag was designed…
Louisiana
The Louisiana state flag was originally adopted in 1912 but in November 2010 it was updated with more detail. The design on the flag consists of a heraldic image of a mother eastern brown pelican in her nest feeding her young with her blood on a blue background with white and gold details – blue, gold, and white are the official colors of Louisiana. Louisiana state motto, “Union, Justice, and Confidence.”
Minnesota
The flag is royal blue, with a gold fringe and is jam-packed with Minnesota state symbols. In the center of the flag is the state seal. Around the state seal is a wreath of the state flower, the lady slipper. Three dates are woven into the wreath: 1858, the year Minnesota became a state; 1819, the year Fort Snelling was established; and 1893, the year the official flag was adopted.
Montana
The state flag of Montana was officially adopted in 1981. On a blue background is the state’s steal, and above is the word “Montana” in all capitals. The seal shows some of Montana’s beautiful scenery and tells what people were doing in pioneer times. The pick, shovel and plow represent mining and farming. In the background a sun rises over mountains, forests and the Great Falls of the Missouri river.
Nebraska
The state flag of Nebraska was officially adopted as a state banner in 1925 but it didn’t become an official flag until 1963. Nebraska was the last of the contiguous us states to adopt an official state flag. The Nebraska state flag consists of a gold state seal on the center flag with a blue background. “A banner for the State of Nebraska shall consist of a reproduction of the great seal of the state…
Nevada
North Carolina’s flag was officially adopted on March 9, 1885 but it was updated in 1991 with some minor changes. The flag’s design incorporates an “N” for North and a “C” for Carolina. The single star in between represents North Carolina.
The flag also shows two equally proportioned bars; the upper bar is red, the lower bar, white. The length of the bars horizontally is equal to the perpendicular length…
New Mexico
The flag of Ohio, which was officially adopted in 1902, is the only flag that doesn’t have the traditional rectangular shape. The Ohio flag is actually a burgee. A burgee is typically flown by yachts, has a distinguished shape, more like a pennant with two tails. That design is properly called swallow-tailed. Ohio’s flag was designed by John Eisenmann in 1901, having been without a flag for 100 years.
North Dakota
The Pennsylvania state flag was officially adopted in 1907 but the first state flag bearing the state coat of arms was authorized by the general assembly in 1799. An act of the general assembly of June 13, 1907, standardized the flag and required that the blue field match the blue of “Old Glory,” which is the national US flag. Pennsylvania’s State Flag is more of a square than a rectangle.
Oklahoma
The South Carolina’s flag design dates back to 1775, by being based on Revolutionary War flags. The current South Carolina state flag was officially adopted on January 26, 1861. Asked by the Revolutionary Council of Safety in the fall of 1775 to design a flag for the use of South Carolina troops, Colonel William Moultrie chose a blue which matched the color of their uniforms and a crescent which…
Oregon
The three stars on the Tennessee flag represent the three different landforms in Tennessee, mountains in the east, highlands in the middle and lowlands in the west.
The state flag was designed by LeRoy Reeves of the Third Regiment, Tennessee Infantry, who made the following explanation of his design: “The three stars are of pure white, representing the three grand divisions of the state…”
South Dakota
The current state flag was established in February 1909. Its coat of arms shows a moose-and-pine-tree emblem on a shield supported by a farmer and a sailor; a ribbon below bears the state name, and above is the North Star and the Latin motto “Dirigo” (“I direct”). Maine also has a special naval flag resembling that of Massachusetts; it features a white background with a green pine tree.
Texas
The Seal and basis of the State Flag New Hampshire was adopted in 1784 following the Revolutionary War. On December 28, 1792, a regulation was adopted by the legislature that required regiments in the state militia to carry the national flag and regimental colors displaying the state seal. More than a century passed, however, before the adoption of a state flag for general purposes.
Utah
There is no extant record of a design for an official Vermont flag prior to 1804, although Ira Allen’s design—common to both the Great Seal of Vermont and the coat of arms of Vermont—dates to 1778.[7] While an official government flag might not have existed prior to 1804, the Vermont militia—known as the Green Mountain Boys—use of the Flag of the Green Mountain Boys as far back as 1777.
Washington
The three stars on the Tennessee flag represent the three different landforms in Tennessee, mountains in the east, highlands in the middle and lowlands in the west.
The state flag was designed by LeRoy Reeves of the Third Regiment, Tennessee Infantry, who made the following explanation of his design: “The three stars are of pure white, representing the three grand divisions of the state…”
Wyoming
The current state flag was established in February 1909. Its coat of arms shows a moose-and-pine-tree emblem on a shield supported by a farmer and a sailor; a ribbon below bears the state name, and above is the North Star and the Latin motto “Dirigo” (“I direct”). Maine also has a special naval flag resembling that of Massachusetts; it features a white background with a green pine tree.
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