Flag of Indiana

Current flag

To commemorate the state's 1916 centennial anniversary, the Indiana General Assembly issued a resolution to adopt a new state flag. At the request of the General Assembly, a contest was sponsored by the Indiana Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution to design a flag to serve as the official state banner. As an incentive to increase the number of submissions, the contest offered the winner a $100 cash prize. More than 200 submissions were received and examined by the Society before a winner was selected. The entry created by Paul Hadley of Mooresville, Indiana was ultimately chosen as the winner of the contest and the cash prize.

On May 31, 1917, the flag was chosen as the state's official banner. The General Assembly made only one change to Hadley's original design: they added the name Indiana, in a crescent shape, over the top of the large star. The state banner was five feet six inches in width by four feet four inches in height. The state banner was later designated as the state flag in a statute passed in 1955 that also standardized the dimensions of the flag to be 2 by 3 units, 3 by 5 units, or any equivalent size.

File:Banner of Indiana (1917–1955).svg|Banner of Indiana (1917–1955)

File:Flag of Indiana.svg|Current flag of Indiana after standardization (1955–present)

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File:Paul-Hadley.png|Paul Hadley (left) with the flag that was given to the state, 1923.

File:The First Indiana Flag.jpg|The first Indiana flag after adoption to be used by the state government. This flag was created by Paul Hadley to be used at the Indiana Statehouse in 1923. The Indiana Society of the Sons of the American Revolution have adopted the George Rogers Clark flag as their flag, and in 2008, they presented the flag to the Indiana National Guard to take with them to Iraq and Afghanistan. The flag is still being flown in Vincennes to this day.

The symbols on the Indiana state flag were used as the theming for the Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay in 2016. The torch on the Indiana state flag had a physical version of it created to be specially used for the event. In 2015, one year before the event, a bicentennial flag was created to celebrate Indiana's 200th statehood anniversary. The bicentennial flag has the state flag incorporated into its design. Copies of the bicentennial flag were given to every county, city, and town in the state to be displayed. The flag was sold on the official state website and in retail stores for a limited time during the bicentennial event.

File:George Rogers Clark Flag.svg|The George Rogers Clark Flag

File:Indiana's semicentennial flag (1866).png|Indiana semicentennial flag, 1866

File:Indiana Bicentennial Flag.jpg|Indiana bicentennial flag

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Flag proposals

The first person to propose a flag for the state was Irwin Burnett Arnold in 1914. Irwin, being an American Civil War veteran, with the help of his wife designed a flag that was similar to the United States flag. Irwin would later get into contact with the Indiana Daughters of the American Revolution who were more open to making his flag the official state flag. The Indiana DAR had planned a vote to decide if they would pursue promoting state flag legislation, but upon hearing from the Secretary of State Lew G. Ellingham that Indiana already had a state flag, the vote was delayed. Langdon designed the flag based on his own principles that a flag should be simple, attractive, acceptable as a flag, significant, and that it contrasts yet harmonizes with the United States flag. Langdon made the flag a tricolor, a common design on European national flags, specifically the French and Italian flags. To commemorate the state's 1916 centennial anniversary, the Indiana General Assembly issued a resolution to adopt a new state flag. At the request of the General Assembly, a contest was sponsored by the Indiana Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution to design a flag to serve as the official state banner.

File:Irwin B. Arnold Flag, 1914.svg|Irwin Burnett Arnold's Flag, 1914

File:Indiana Centennial Flag.svg|William Chauncy Langdon's Centennial Flag, 1916

File:The Indian and Pioneer Banner.svg|The Indian and Pioneer Banner (Unknown Author)

File:The Beech Tree and Red Clover Banner.svg|The Beech Tree and Red Clover Banner (Unknown Author)

File:Indiana State Flag Proposal 3.svg|The Buffalo Banner (Unknown Author)

File:Sydney Elizabeth Lyon Indiana State Flag Proposal.svg|Sydney Elizabeth Lyon's (Jeffersonville) Flag

File:Mrs. K. F. Brook Indiana State Flag Proposal.svg|Mrs. K. F. Brook's (Plymouth) Flag

File:Charles Carroll Indiana State Flag Proposal.svg|Charles Carroll's (Delphi) Flag

File:Miss Gladding Indiana State Flag Proposal.svg|Miss Gladding's (Indianapolis) Flag

File:Indiana State Flag Proposal 1.svg|Unknown Author (Terre Haute)

File:Indiana State Flag Proposal 2.svg|Unknown Author

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Usage in popular culture

thumb|215px|upright|The Indiana state flag as depicted in the 1976 bicentennial postage stamp series.

thumb|right|210px|The Indiana state flag shown in a 1980 Indianapolis post card.

A large variety of things utilize the colors and symbols of the state flag. This includes Indiana state agency logos and seals, college logos, private business logos, license plates, monuments, art pieces, and flags and seals of counties and municipalities in Indiana just to list a few.

The team colors for the NBA's Indiana Pacers were taken from the blue and gold of the flag.

In late 2008, Bloomington-licensed CW affiliate WTTV used the Indiana state flag in their station logo until 2015 when they became a CBS affiliate, though the logo remains in use for their second digital subchannel.

The logo of the BP-acquired Amoco Corporation (formerly Standard Oil of Indiana) prominently features a torch to commemorate the company's Hoosier origins; it remains in use at the few BP stations using Amoco and Standard trade dress to maintain trademark protection.

A variation of the Indiana state flag was used as the Gotham flag in the 1989 movie Batman. The flag can be seen in the mayor's office.

In 2001, a survey conducted by the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) placed Indiana's flag 32nd in design quality out of the 72 Canadian provincial, U.S. state and U.S. territorial flags ranked.

thumb|left|Apollo 17 display case with the state flag and a moon basalt rock.

After the Apollo 11 moon landing, a display case containing the state flag and 0.05 grams of space dust was created by NASA and presented to Governor Edgar D. Whitcomb. The display case remains on display at the Indiana State Museum.

In 1973, a piece of Lunar basalt 70017 was given to the state of Indiana by President Richard Nixon. A display case was created containing the piece of lunar basalt. Also on this display case, below the rock, is a copy of the state flag that had been carried to the Moon aboard Spacecraft America during the Apollo 17 mission.

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Historical depictions

File:Flag of Indiana being presented to Postmaster General New at Post Office LCCN2016893803.jpg|Presentation of the state flag, 1924.

File:Flag of Indiana.png|State flag given to the Postoffice Department building in Washington D.C., 1924

File:Deed Presentation.png|The state banner next to Governor Ed Jackson as he presents the deed of the first purchase of the Indiana Dunes State Park, 1925.

File:Original Indiana Flag.jpg|Paul Hadley's original flag proposal. This flag is in possession of the Indiana State Museum.