 | |
| Use | Civil and state flag    |
|---|---|
| Adopted | March 29, 1921; 102 years ago |
| Design | A vertical tricolor of blue, white, and red. The center stripe is twice the width of the other two and contains an eagle holding a ribbon above the word Iowa in red. |
| Designed by | Dixie Cornell Gebhardt |
The flag of the state of Iowa is a vertical tricolor flag designed by Dixie Cornell Gebhardt in 1917. Iowa, United States legislators officially adopted the flag in 1921.
The state of Iowa did not have a banner for the first 75 years of its conception, largely because of calls for national unity during and after the American Civil War, in which Iowa fought for the Union. It was not until World War I that the creation of a state banner was requested, recorded first by the Iowa Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), [1] while Iowa National Guardsmen positioned along the Mexican border made several requests for a banner, as other states had banners to represent themselves. [2] In 1917, Iowa was one of three states that had no banner. [3]
The flag was designed by DAR member and Knoxville, Iowa, resident Dixie Cornell Gebhardt, who was prompted to create the design by Iowa guardsmen. [4] It was approved by the DAR flag committee in early May 1917 and presented to the Iowa State Council for Defense, where it was accepted on May 11, 1917. [2] The flag was sent to Iowa troops for designation but would not be officially adopted as the state flag for nearly four more years.
Iowa governor William Lloyd Harding formally accepted the flag on behalf of the state on March 19, 1918, [5] but legislative action on adoption failed in February 1919. [6] Still, the Iowa Daughters met with legislators urging them to accept the flag again in September 1920, suggesting that past failures were caused by high expenses. [7]
Despite not being adopted, the banner was used often throughout the nation to represent Iowa, notably in Continental Hall where it was among official flags of other states, though marked as unofficial. This was all the more reason to adopt the flag officially, according to the wife of congressman Horace Mann Towner. [7]
Finally, in January 1921, Iowa legislators again deliberated on the adoption of an official banner, [8] and by mid-March of that same year, the flag was accepted as law. [9]
In 2001, a survey conducted by the North American Vexillological Association placed Iowa's flag 42nd in design quality out of the 72 Canadian provincial, U.S. state and U.S. territorial flags ranked. [10]
The banner is only to be used in official representation of the state of Iowa or in distinction between citizens of different states. The flag should always be flown below and "subservient" to the flag of the United States, [11] while being provided and raised by public officers. Schools must fly the banner when classes are in session, and public buildings may fly the banner on secular days. [12]
Iowa law officially describes the state flag.
The design consists of three vertical stripes of blue, white, and red, the blue stripe being nearest the staff and the white stripe being in the center. On the central white stripe is depicted a spreading eagle bearing in its beak blue streamers on which is inscribed the state motto, 'Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain' in white letters, with the word 'Iowa' in red letters below the streamers.
— Iowa Code [13]
Cornell Gebhardt assigned meaning to each color of the flag: blue represents loyalty, justice, and truth; white stands for purity; red symbolizes courage. [14] TheDes Moines Register suggested that the design hearkens back to Iowa's history as a French territory, with both flags containing blue, white and red from left to right, though Iowa's banner has a wider white section. The Register also stated that the word "Iowa" written in red symbolizes the "Iowa soldier [writing] in letters of blood on the white page of history his unalterable determination to defend the ideals represented by the banner and its wonderful motto." [15]
It is one of nine U.S. state flags to feature an eagle, alongside those of Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wyoming. The eagle carrying streamers in its beak also features on the Iowa state seal. [16]
The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton, referred to as the union and bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows, where rows of six stars alternate with rows of five stars. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 U.S. states, and the 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from Great Britain, which they went on to secure by their victory in the American Revolutionary War.
The national flag of France is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue, white, and red. It is known to English speakers as the Tricolour, although the flag of Ireland and others are also known as such. The design was adopted after the French Revolution, where the revolutionaries were influenced by the horizontally striped red-white-blue flag of the Netherlands. While not the first tricolour, it became one of the most influential flags in history. The tricolour scheme was later adopted by many other nations in Europe and elsewhere, and, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica has historically stood "in symbolic opposition to the autocratic and clericalist royal standards of the past".
The national flag of Luxembourg consists of three horizontal stripes, red, white and light blue, and can be in 1:2 or 3:5 ratio. It was first used between 1845 and 1848 and officially adopted in 1993. It is informally called in the country, «rout, wäiß, blo».
The flag of Hawaii was first adopted in the early 19th century by the Hawaiian Kingdom and continued to be used after its overthrow in 1893. It is the only U.S. state flag to feature a foreign country's national flag—that of the United Kingdom's Union Jack—which commemorates the Royal Navy's historical relations with the Kingdom of Hawaii, and in particular the pro-British sentiment of its founder and first ruler, King Kamehameha I.
The flag of Thailand shows five horizontal stripes in the colours red, white, blue, white and red, with the central blue stripe being twice as wide as each of the other four. The design was adopted on 28 September 1917, according to the royal decree issued by Rama VI. Since 2016, that day is a national day of importance in Thailand celebrating the flag.
The national flag of the Russian Federation is a tricolour of three equal horizontal fields: white on the top, blue in the middle, and red on the bottom. It was first raised in 1696, as an ensign for merchant ships under the Tsardom of Russia.
The flag of the United States Marine Corps is the flag used to represent the U.S. Marine Corps, as well as its subsidiary units and formations.
The national flag of Latvia was used by independent Latvia from 1918 until the country was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. Its use was suppressed during Soviet rule. On 27 February 1990, shortly before the country regained its independence, the Latvian government re-adopted the traditional red-white-red flag.
The flag of Colorado was officially adopted to represent the U.S. state of Colorado on June 5, 1911. The flag, designed by Andrew Carlisle Carson, consists of a fess design of three horizontal stripes of equal width, with the top and bottom stripes colored blue, and the middle stripe colored white. A circular red "C", filled with a golden disk, sits atop the stripes. All aspects of the flag contain symbolism related to the state, as the blue is meant to represent the sky, the gold the abundant sunshine the state receives, the white the snowcapped Rocky Mountains, and the red the "ruddy" earth. The gold and white portions of the flag also represent the state's gold and silver mining industries, respectively.
The flag of Wyoming was officially adopted to represent the U.S. state of Wyoming on January 31, 1917. The flag consists of the silhouette of an American bison. The red symbolizes the Native Americans and the blood of pioneers who gave their lives. The white is a symbol of purity and uprightness. The blue is the color of the skies and distant mountains. It is also a symbol of fidelity, justice and virility. The bison represents the local fauna, while the seal on it suggests the custom of branding livestock.
In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours, standards, flags, or guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt some 5,000 years ago. The Roman Empire also made battle standards reading SPQR a part of their vast armies. It was formalized in the armies of Europe in the High Middle Ages, with standards being emblazoned with the commander's coat of arms.
The Iowa State Council for Defense was created by Iowa Governor William L. Harding one month after the United States entered World War I, and was disbanded soon after the end of the war. It became a focal point of various political battles conducted in the name of loyalty and Americanism.
The Great Seal of the State of Illinois is the official emblem of the U.S. state, and signifies the official nature of a document produced by the state of Illinois. The flag of the state of Illinois consists of the seal of Illinois on a white background, with the word "Illinois" underneath the seal. The present seal was adopted in 1869, the flag bearing the central elements of the seal was adopted in 1915, and the word Illinois was added to the flag in 1970. In a 2001 survey by the North American Vexillological Association, the flag of Illinois was ranked 49th out of 72 different flags of states and territories, mainly in the US and Canada.
The flag of Des Moines, Iowa, was designed by Walter T. Proctor. Set on a blue background is a red vertical stripe along the hoist with the right side of the stripe angling inward toward the hoist and a white balance of three horizontal "bridges".
The flag of Crimea is the flag of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Ukraine and the Republic of Crimea controlled by Russia. The flag was officially adopted on 24 September 1992 as the flag of the Republic of Crimea, readopted on 21 April 1999, then readopted on 4 June 2014 as the flag of the Republic of Crimea, annexed by the Russian Federation.
Iowa Speedway is a 7⁄8 mile (1.4 km) oval short track in Newton, Iowa. Since its inaugural season of racing in 2006, the track has hosted a variety of racing event, including events sanctioned by NASCAR and IndyCar. The facility has been owned by NASCAR since 2019, with Eric Peterson currently serving as the track's president. Iowa Speedway is served by Interstate 80.
Dixie Cornell Gebhardt was a state regent and secretary of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in Iowa during World War I, and designed the flag for the state of Iowa.
The 1986–87 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team represented the University of Iowa as members of the Big Ten Conference. The team was led by first-year head coach Tom Davis and played their home games at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. They finished the season 30–5 overall and 14–4 in Big Ten play to finish in third place. The Hawkeyes won their first 18 games and ascended to the first #1 ranking in school history in late January. The 30 overall wins and 14 conference wins remain single-season school records. Iowa received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as #2 seed in the West Region. After defeating Santa Clara in the first round, UTEP in the second round, and Oklahoma in a thrilling Sweet Sixteen matchup, they lost to #1 UNLV in the West Regional Final, 84–81.
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