Flags of the 50 states

A seal on a blue field

Put the flags side by side and a pattern jumps out. Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin, among others, all fly a version of the state seal or coat of arms on a blue background. Pennsylvania’s law even says the blue must match the blue of the US flag. Several of these flags add the state’s name in large letters, which is often the only quick way to tell them apart at a distance.

The flags that stand out tend to be simple. New Mexico’s red Zia sun symbol on a yellow field comes from the Zia Pueblo. Alaska’s eight gold stars show the Big Dipper pointing to the North Star, and were designed by a 13-year-old, Benny Benson, in a 1927 territorial contest. Arizona’s copper star and sunset rays, Colorado’s red C and Texas’s single star are recognizable from across a parking lot. Ohio’s is the only flag that is not a rectangle: a swallowtail with 17 stars, since Ohio was the 17th state.

When the flags were made

Most states had no official flag until around 1900. Of the current flags, more than 30 were adopted between 1900 and 1930, often when states wanted banners for their National Guard regiments or for display at world’s fairs. A few are older: the Lone Star flag of Texas dates from the Republic of Texas in 1839, and Hawaii’s from the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1845. South Carolina’s palmetto flag was adopted in 1861, but its crescent and blue go back to a flag flown during the Revolutionary War.

The new wave of redesigns

After decades of almost no change, states have started redesigning. Mississippi went first. Its 1894 flag carried the Confederate battle emblem; in June 2020 the Legislature retired it, and that November 73 percent of voters approved a new design with a white magnolia blossom and the words “In God We Trust.” It became official in January 2021.

Utah followed with a new flag in March 2024: blue, white and red bands with a beehive and five white mountain peaks. Its old seal-on-blue flag became the “historic state flag” and still flies at the Capitol during legislative sessions. Minnesota replaced its flag and seal in May 2024, after a commission picked a design that drops the seal entirely in favor of an eight-pointed North Star beside a dark blue shape based on the state’s outline.

Not every attempt has worked. Illinois collected 4,844 proposed designs in 2024, but in a public vote in early 2025 the current flag won about 43 percent of nearly 385,000 votes, and no new flag has been adopted. Maine voters turned down a return to a pine tree flag from 1901 in November 2024, by about 55 to 45 percent. Massachusetts has had a commission working on a new flag and seal since 2021, without a result so far.

Find a flag

Click any flag above for the state’s page, with what each part of the design means and the flag’s history. To test yourself, try the flags quiz.