US Flags:Part 4

This is the final part of our beloved state flags. This is going to cover states that came in last, the states in the upper northwest, southwest and even beyond our continental boundaries, and each has their own unique design.

## South Dakota

Adopted in 1909, this is a very generic looking flag for South Dakota.

1. In the middle is.........................well, The Sun (what else?)

2. The state's name is on the top

3. The state's former nickname is on the bottom.

Because the flag was too generic, (and stole Florida's nickname), it was replaced by 1992. Now it has more detail, with ther state's seal and everything.

1. The seal has a farmer and barns, symbolizing agriculture. it also has factories, symbolizing industry. As well as mountains, symbolizing the state's hiully west. On the outside of the seal says "*State of South Dakota*", *"Great Seal"* as well as the year when South Dakota became a state.

2. The state's nickname is on the bottom, as it was changed to *The Mount Rushmore State*.

## Montana

Adopted in 1905, the flag of Montana only has it's seal.

1. It has a pickaxe and a shovel, symbolizing the mining industry. Trees, symbolizing the wilderness. Mountains, symbolizing the mountain ranges in the state, and a few gleeming streaks which symbolize gold inside those mountains. As well as a lake, symbolizing lakes in the state.

Montana modified the flag in 1981, putting the state's name above the seal.

## Washington

Adopted in 1923, The flag of Washington (state) is pretty straightforward.

1. Why is it straightforward, because it only has George Washington's face on it. The outside of the seal says *"The seal of the state of Washington"* and the year that Washington became a state.

The flag was updated in 1967 (and the flag was standardized at the time as well). Giving it a lighter shade of green and even a better portrait of George Washington.

## Idaho

Adopted in 1957, the flag of Idaho has the state's seal and it's COA.

1. The seal has 2 sides. On the left is Liberty (from the New Jersey and New York's flags) with a cornucopia, symbolizing prosperity, sheaves of wheat, symbolizing agriculture. On the right is a prospector, symbolizing mining.

2. The COA features Idaho's landscape with a farm and livestock as well.

## Wyoming

Adopted in 1917, the flag of Wyoming reveals a lot about it's history.

1. The red on the outer part of the flag represents blood from not just the settlers, but also the Native Americans.

2. The white symbolizes purity.

3. There is a white sillhouette of a Bison, symbolizing the wildlife in the state.

4. The state's seal is inside the Bison. which features roman pillars with a cowboy on the left and a prospector on the right, and surrounding it is: *The Great Seal of the State of Wyoming"*.

## Utah

Adopted in 1903, the flag of Utah also reveals much about it's history.

1. The flag features the state's seal. Inside the seal is a Beehive, not symbolizing Honey Bees, but Mormonism as they consider themselves as like Honey Bees who work together to form their Beehive, the Mormons work together to form their own kingdom (as they tried to do in the past). Above the Beehive is *Industry*, one of the state's biggest commerce as they help form the trans-continental railroad in 1869. On each side of the seal are US flags (having 10 stars each), above the seal is a Bald Eagle with arrows below it.

2. This is the year when the mormons founded and established Salt Lake City.

3. This year is when Utah became a state. The state's name is on the bottom.

For over a century, Utah would update it's flag: adding color and more stars to the flags on either side of the seal. Todays flag has 45 stars, symbolizing that Utah is the 45th state.

## Oklahoma

Adopted in 1911, Oklahoma's first flag looks pretty generic.

1. Generic is the key word with this flag. It just has a white star with dark blue outline with the number "46" in the middle, symbolizing it's the 46th state.

To better pay homage to the Native Americans, Oklahoma adopted this flag in 1925. It looks better than the other flag.

1. This is an Osage Nation Buffalo Skinned shield, which is used by most Native American tribes and it has feathers on it to prove it's authenticity.

2. There are 2 objects crossing each other, an Olive Branch and a Native American smoking pipe, both symbolizing peace as well as the friendship of Anglo and Native Americans.

Over the years, Oklahoma updated it's flag, giving it a slightly darker shade of blue and update the design of the shield Olive Branch and the pipe.

## New Mexico

Adopted in 1912, this flag also looks pretty generic.

1. Of course, this flag features the name of the state. The US flag above the name of course has 47 stars.

2. This number symbolizes New Mexico being the 47th state.

3. It's the state's seal with New Mexico's old nickname (again, stealing from Florida).

New Mexico needed a new flag, and fast. So in 1920, they got one in the form of this. This time, better expressing it's Mexican Heritage.

The flag has what is known as the *Red Sun of the Zia*, which is a symbol closely associating with the roginal Pueblo people who were the state's oldest residents.

## Arizona

Adopted in 1917, the flag of Arizona does a good job showing off it's landscape.

1. The red and yellow colors are references to 3 things: 1 The rays of the sun, 2 The original 13 colonies (as there are 13 stripes), 3 The spanish conquistidors (despite that they never used those colors).

2. The star in the middle is a dark orange color, symbolizing copper (an abundant resource in the state)

3. The dark blue is the Clorado River.

## Alaska

Adopted in 1927, (32 years before it became a state). This is a very distinctive flag.

1. The navy blue color background of the flag symbolizes the night sky.

2. The 7 stars in the bottom part of the flag are formed in the same layout of Ursa Major (The Big Dipper).

3. The star in the upper right corner is a symbol for Alaska's future.

## Hawaii

Adopted in 1845, the flag of Hawaii has history and heritage inside of it.

1. This has the current flag of Great Britiain, because at one time, some of the Hawaiian Islands belonged to the British (thanks in large part to James Cook, a famous explorer).

2. There are 8 stripes on the right, and each symbolizes the 8 islands of the Windward Islands.

That si all for our state flags, don't forget to checkj out my alternate history pages as well as other things about our world, until then this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.