Flag of North Dakota

What the flag shows

• The field. Blue, bordered by a knotted yellow fringe. The law sets the size at 4 feet 4 inches on the staff by 5 feet 6 inches on the fly.
• The eagle. In the center, with wings spread and beak open, holding a sheaf of arrows in its left foot and an olive branch with three red berries in its right.
• The shield. On the eagle’s breast, its lower part with seven red and six white stripes.
• The ribbon and stars. A scroll through the eagle’s beak reading “E Pluribus Unum,” with thirteen five-pointed stars above it and a sunburst over the whole design.
• The name. A scroll beneath the eagle reading “North Dakota,” the only part that differs from the regimental flag the law says it must copy in color, form, size and device.

A regiment’s banner

In 1898 and 1899 the First North Dakota Infantry carried a blue eagle banner as its regimental flag in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine conflict. Colonel John H. Fraine, a veteran of the regiment, introduced a bill on January 21, 1911, to make that banner the state flag, and the Legislative Assembly adopted it on March 3, 1911, with the state’s name placed on the lower scroll.

The flag that wasn’t

Not everyone liked it. The 1951 Legislature created a five-member State Flag Commission, which judged the 1911 design unsuitable, partly because it looks so much like the US coat of arms. In December 1951 it recommended a green-and-gold flag with a sunset and a wheat sheaf, designed by Clell Gannon of Bismarck, but the bill to adopt it was quickly defeated in the 1953 session. A 1959 law confirmed and described the present flag, nearly identical to the 1911 design.

Getting the colors right

In 2011, at the State Historical Society’s request, the Legislature amended the flag law to require reproductions to follow the official design and color codes issued by the Society, and to require flags bought by state agencies and local governments to meet the standard. The Society publishes a handout giving Pantone codes for each color. North Dakota has no official pledge or salute to its flag.