Flag of Ohio - WikiHQ

The flag of Ohio, also known as the Ohio Burgee, is a red, white, and blue U.S. state flag with a distinctive triangular swallowtail shape. The flag's elements symbolize the state's natural features and order of admission into the Union. A prominent disc at the flag's hoist suggests the letter O, the first letter in Ohio's name.

For nearly a century after statehood, Ohio did not have a legally authorized state flag. John Eisenmann designed Ohio's flag in 1901 for the Pan-American Exposition and the flag was officially adopted the next year.

Ohio has adopted an official salute to its flag as well as an official folding procedure. The Ohio flag has influenced a number of logos and municipal flags within the state. A scarlet-colored gubernatorial flag is based on the state seal.

Statute

thumb|right|An Ohio flag flies above [[Sawyer Point Park & Yeatman's Cove|Sawyer Point in Cincinnati.]]

The Ohio state flag's design is defined in the Ohio Revised Code, Chapter 5, § 5.01, as:

Design and symbolism

thumb|right|A typical 34-star Union guidon, carried by many Ohio cavalry units during the Civil War.

The law defining the flag's design (OH Rev Code § 5.01) also defines its symbolism. The three red and two white horizontal stripes are stated to represent "the roads and waterways of the state," the blue triangular field represents "the state's hills and valleys," the thirteen stars grouped around the "O" represent "the original states of the United States," the four stars added to the peak of the triangle symbolize "that Ohio was the seventeenth state admitted to the union," and the "O" represents the letter O in "Ohio" and "suggests the state's nickname, the buckeye state."

In addition to resembling the letter O and a buckeye nut, the flag's annulus also represents "the original territory of Ohio" in the Northwest Territory. The flag has been officially defined as a "burgee" since 2002, even though burgees are typically used as maritime flags. Its shape, lack of text, and mirror symmetry allow it to be flown or hung in various orientations without affecting legibility. On account of the flag's uncommon shape, foreign manufacturers have occasionally set the entire design against a white, rectangular field.

thumb|200px|A digital recreation of the Arsenal flag, 1860

By the early 1850s, Ohio expressed interest in adopting a state flag, as several other states had already done. In 1859, Mr. Stafford came up with a bill in the state senate for funds to purchased 2 flags. One was to be displayed over the state house the other in the senate chamber. The flags were similar to the National flag but with the state's coat of arms on its field. In March the bill passed. Day Later the House added a bill removing the coat of arms from the flag and with disagreements between senators on its design, leading to them being unable to raised funds for the production of these flags.

In late 1860, Quartermaster General David L. Wood and Adjutant General Henry B. Carrington devised a flag consisting of the state seal upon a white field. They had it flown above the Ohio State Arsenal in Columbus, in hopes that it might someday become the state flag. On January 17, 1861, at a banquet organized by the Columbus Typographical Union Local #5, future U.S. President James A. Garfield gave a speech defending the national flag as the only flag Ohio's soldiers would march to battle under. The generals, in attendance, were moved to set aside their proposal and hoist the Stars and Stripes in its place. Later that year, Wood and Carrington joined fellow Ohioans in battle under the 34-star Union flag, which would serve as the inspiration for a state banner decades later.

Current flag (1902–present)

thumb|Eisenmann's original specification

In 1901, Cleveland architect John Eisenmann was commissioned to design an exhibition hall for his state at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. He developed a distinctive flag to fly over each corner of the Ohio Building. The wool flags officially represented the Ohio Pan-American Exposition Commission rather than the state. On July 18, Governor George K. Nash visited the exposition, where he was presented with one of the flags, Eisenmann secured a U.S. design patent for his design, which he described as "a triangular forked or swallow-tailed flag corresponding to the shape generally known as a 'cavalry-guidon' or 'broad pennant.'"

In 1902, State Representative William S. McKinnon, a member of the Ohio Pan-American Exposition Commission, introduced House Bill 213 designating Eisenmann's design as the official flag. It became law on May 9, (Eisenmann had assigned his patent, which had a term of three and a half years, to the State of Ohio on April 24.)

thumb|right|The Ohio Building at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition

Because Eisenmann's design deviated from the "seal on a bedsheet" design then nearly universal among state flags, the press looked overseas for precedents: the layout was likened to either the flag of Cuba or of the Philippines,

Initially, Ohio's flag was seldom used, in part due to the prevailing opinion that the Stars and Stripes should hold a monopoly on patriotic displays. Similar sentiment hindered the adoption of municipal flags in Cleveland and Cincinnati, to the extent that both were downplayed as mere "banners" for promotional purposes. In 1903, it was reported that, among state politicians, only Nash displayed the guidon.

In the century following its adoption, the guidon gained significant popularity, being flown not only by the state but frequently also by its residents and businesses.

Ohio is not the only state that has designated a folding procedure for its flag; however, Ohio's procedure takes on special importance due to the flag's irregular shape. A flag vendor in Arkansas has described the procedure as "quite a challenge".

Derivations

Ohio's flag is regularly flown during football games by Ohio State University Marching Band's "JI-Row" as the percussion section's row mascot. The Columbus Blue Jackets logo and Cincinnati Bengals fan flag are both based on the state flag.

A number of municipalities and counties in Ohio have adopted pennants and swallowtails based on the state burgee. Adams County and the cities of Marysville and Mentor have flags that essentially replace the annulus with a seal and modify the pattern of stars in the triangular union. Additionally, the city of Green uses a burgee for the city flag, altering the colors to green and white stripes, as opposed to the original red and white on the Ohio state flag.

Gallery

File:Ohio state banner (1872).png|Unofficial state banner used by state delegates at the 1872 Republican National Convention

File:Ohio Unofficial state banner c1880-1910.png|Unofficial state banner c. 1880–1910

File:Flag of Ohio (1911).png|State flag from 1911

File:Benetka Road (Ashtabula County, Ohio) Covered Bridge 3.jpg|A rectangular Ohio flag flies in front of the Benetka Road Covered Bridge in Ashtabula County.

File:Ohio Misprinted flag 1902.png|Digital remake of a misprinted guidon with a blue disc c. 1902–1915

File:Ohio state flag with Grand Army of the Republic overprint (1925).png|State flag used by Grand Army of the Republic, 1925

File:Flag of Ohio (1932).png|State flag from 1932

File:Flag of Ohio (1953).png|State flag from 1953

File:Ohio Bicentennial 13c 1976 issue.jpg|The Ohio state flag as depicted in the 1976 bicentennial postage stamp series.

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Flag of the governor

thumb|right|200px| The flag of the governor of Ohio incorporates the 1996 state coat of arms. A physical flag made in the 1950s colors the hills purple and omits the river.

The flag of the governor of Ohio consists of the Great Seal of Ohio encircled with 13 white stars on a scarlet field, with a five-point star in each corner. Like the state flag, it has 17 stars in total.

The adjutant general's office adopted this design in 1905 to represent the governor on official occasions. The design was officially recognized by the 96th General Assembly effective October 3, 1945:

The Ohio Revised Code also specifies smaller versions of this design to be used as the governor's naval flag and automobile flag.

References

External links

State Flag of Ohio  – brochure by the Ohio Secretary of State's office
125th General Assembly of Ohio, H.B. 552
Ohio's State Flag (1901) – Ohio History Central
Ohio Flag folding instructions in PDF form
Ohio county flags – Ohio Statehouse