Flag of Tennessee - wikipedia Flag of Tennessee State of Tennessee Use Civil and state flag Proportion 3 : 5 Adopted April 17, 1905 ; 113 years ago ( 1905 - 04 - 17 ) Design A blue circle with three white five - pointed stars on a rectangular field of red, with a strip of white and blue on the fly. Designed by Colonel LeRoy Reeves The flag of the state of Tennessee consists of an emblem on a field of red, with a strip of blue on the fly. The emblem in the middle consists of three stars on a blue circle. The central emblem portion of the flag appears in the logos of some Tennessee - based companies and sports teams. Examples include the First Tennessee Bank, Tennessee Titans of the National Football League, and the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League. Contents 1 History 2 Description 2.1 Symbolism 2.2 Star arrangement 3 Former state flags 4 Government flags 5 Gallery 6 See also 7 References 8 External links History The flag was designed by Colonel LeRoy Reeves of the Tennessee National Guard, a Johnson City attorney who was serving in the Tennessee National Guard in 1905 when he created the new flag design. The Tennessee State Legislature officially adopted the flag on April 17, 1905. Description Symbolism The three stars represent the three Grand Divisions of the state, East Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, and West Tennessee. The blue circle around the stars represents the unity of the `` Grand Divisions '' of the state. The blue bar at the edge of the flag was just a design consideration. When asked about the blue bar, Reeves stated that `` The final blue bar relieves the sameness of the crimson field and prevents the flag from showing too much crimson when hanging limp. '' The National Geographic magazine erroneously reported in October 1917 that the stars represent Tennessee 's status as the third state to enter the United States after the original thirteen. Star arrangement Tennessee state law dictates on how the center emblem is drawn on the flag. The arrangement of the three ( 3 ) stars shall be such that the centers of no two stars shall be in a line parallel to either the side or the end of the flag, but intermediate between the same ; and the highest star shall be the one nearest the upper confined corner of the flag. -- In 1976, the United States Postal Service issued a sheet of stamps with one stamp for each state. The Tennessee flag was upside down as represented on its stamp. Former state flags As the civil war was approaching in 1861, a flag was first proposed for the state. It was modeled after the First National Flag of the CSA, but with the State Seal in the canton, instead of seven stars. Prior to the adoption of the current flag, the state of Tennessee used a tricolor in red, blue, and white. The three bands were slanted to represent geographically the three regions of Tennessee. It included the number 16 and the words `` The Volunteer State '', representing Tennessee being the 16th state in the Union, and the state 's nickname. Government flags See also : Flags of the Governors of the U.S. States Alongside the state flag, there are other flags used by the government of Tennessee. The flag for the Governor of Tennessee has been in use since 1939. It is a scarlet flag, with four stars, one in each corner, and the State Military Crest, a tree with three white stars, in the center. The Tennessee General Assembly has its own flag as well. Gallery Proposed flag, 1861 State flag, 1897 - 1905 Governor General Assembly See also Tennessee portal List of Tennessee state symbols Seal of Tennessee References Jump up ^ `` LeRoy Reeves Papers 1703 - 1952 ''. East Tennessee State University, Archives of Appalachia. Jump up ^ Darnell, Riley C. ( 2006 ). Tennessee Blue Book ( PDF ). Nashville, Tennessee : State of Tennessee. pp. 515 -- 516. ^ Jump up to : `` Tennessee State Flag ''. Tennessee Military Department. Archived from the original on 2008 - 01 - 14. Retrieved 2007 - 10 - 26. Jump up ^ Knoxville Philatelic Society News, February 2008 External links Tennessee Blue Book LeRoy Reeves in the collection of the Archives of Appalachia in Johnson City, Tennessee Flags of the U.S. states, federal district, and other political divisions States Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Federal district Washington, D.C. Insular areas American Samoa Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands Outlying Islands Johnson Atoll Midway Atoll Navassa Island Palmyra Atoll Wake Island Historic CSA Cuba Philippines ( Commonwealth ) California Republic Panama Canal Zone Texas ( Republic ) TTPI USCA Ryukyu Islands Vermont Republic West Florida ( Republic ) Book Portal State of Tennessee Nashville ( capital ) Topics History Geography Tennesseans African Americans Media Newspapers Radio TV Constitution Elections Governors Lieutenant Governors General Assembly Supreme Court Tennessee National Guard Law Enforcement Tourist attractions Seal of Tennessee Grand Divisions East Tennessee Middle Tennessee West Tennessee Regions Blue Ridge Mountains Cumberland Mountains Cumberland Plateau Highland Rim Mississippi Plain Nashville Basin Ridge - and - Valley Appalachians Tennessee Valley Tri-Cities Largest cities Bartlett Bristol Chattanooga Clarksville Cleveland Franklin Hendersonville Jackson Johnson City Kingsport Knoxville Memphis Murfreesboro Nashville Counties Anderson Bedford Benton Bledsoe Blount Bradley Campbell Cannon Carroll Carter Cheatham Chester Claiborne Clay Cocke Coffee Crockett Cumberland Davidson Decatur DeKalb Dickson Dyer Fayette Fentress Franklin Gibson Giles Grainger Greene Grundy Hamblen Hamilton Hancock Hardeman Hardin Hawkins Haywood Henderson Henry Hickman Houston Humphreys Jackson Jefferson Johnson Knox Lake Lauderdale Lawrence Lewis Lincoln Loudon Macon Madison Marion Marshall Maury McMinn McNairy Meigs Monroe Montgomery Moore Morgan Obion Overton Perry Pickett Polk Putnam Rhea Roane Robertson Rutherford Scott Sequatchie Sevier Shelby Smith Stewart Sullivan Sumner Tipton Trousdale Unicoi Union Van Buren Warren Washington Wayne Weakley White Williamson Wilson Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flag_of_Tennessee&oldid=836819095 '' Categories : United States state flags Symbols of Tennessee Flags of Tennessee Flags introduced in 1905 Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from July 2015 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Беларуская Català Dansk Deutsch Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français 한국어 Italiano עברית Magyar Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Русский Svenska Українська 中文 14 more Edit links This page was last edited on 17 April 2018, at 01 : 29 ( UTC ). 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Question: what do the 3 stars stand for on the tennessee flag
Answer: the three Grand Divisions of the state, East Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, and West Tennessee