Use | Civil and state flag |
---|---|
Proportion | 2:3 |
Adopted | August 1, 1911 |
Design | A state coat of arms on a blue field. |
Flag of the governor of Michigan | |
Use | Flag of the governor of Michigan |
Adopted | August 1, 1911 |
Design | Coat of arms of Michigan on a white field |
The flag of the state of Michigan is a coat of arms set on a dark blue field, as set forth by Michigan state law. [1] The governor has a variant of the flag with a white field instead of blue one. [1] The state has an official flag month from June 14 through July 14. [2]
The state coat of arms depicts a blue shield, upon which the sun rises over a lake and peninsula, and a man with a raised hand, representing peace and holding a long gun, representing the fight for state and nation as a frontier state. [3]
As supporters, the elk and moose are derived from the Hudson's Bay Company coat of arms, and depict great animals of Michigan. The bald eagle represents the United States, which formed the state of Michigan from the Northwest Territory. [4]
The design features three Latin mottos. From top-to-bottom they are:
It is one of nine U.S. state flags to feature an eagle, alongside those of Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wyoming.
The present flag, adopted in 1911, is the third state flag. The first flag featured a portrait of Michigan's first governor, Stevens T. Mason, on one side and the state coat of arms on the other. The first flag is completely lost, and no images of it exist, as far as anyone knows. The second flag, adopted in 1865, displayed the state coat of arms on one side and the United States coat of arms on the other. [5]
The North American Vexillological Association, in its 2001 survey of U.S. state, U.S. territorial, and Canadian provincial flags rated the current Michigan flag 59th out of 72 flags evaluated. The survey respondents gave an average score of just 3.46 out of a possible 10 points. [6]
In November 2016, a bill was introduced in the Michigan state legislature by Senator Steven Bieda that would have provided for a flag commission to head up a public design contest to change the current state flag, [6] but it was ultimately unsuccessful. [7] Establishing a flag commission was proposed again in 2021, by Representative Andrea Schroeder. The measure was referred to committee, where no action was taken on it. [8]
In 2023, representative Phil Skaggs proposed a bill to redesign the state flag. It was introduced as House Bill 6190, on November 26, 2024, read a first time and referred to the Committee on Government Operations. The Bill seeks to form a commission of 6 local university artists, 3 professional artists or state historians selected by the Michigan Historical Commission and 8 political appointees to establish a contest to receive public design submissions between January 26, 2025 and July 26, 2025. The flag commission would have selected a winner by September 26th 2025, and the winning submission would have replaced the current state flag on January 1, 2026. As no action was taken on HB 6190 before the end of the legislative session, this bill was also unsuccessful.
Michigan's pledge of allegiance to the state flag was written by Harold G. Coburn and was officially adopted in 1972. [2]
I pledge allegiance to the flag of Michigan, and to the state for which it stands, two beautiful peninsulas united by a bridge of steel, where equal opportunity and justice to all is our ideal.
The coat of arms of the state of New York was formally adopted in 1778, and appears as a component of the state's flag and seal.
The flag of the U.S. state of Georgia bears three horizontal stripes and features a blue canton containing a ring of 13 white stars that encircle the state's gold-colored coat of arms. The ring of stars that encompass the state's coat of arms represents Georgia as one of the original Thirteen Colonies. Its current iteration was adopted on February 19, 2003. The arch symbolizes the state's constitution while the pillars represent the three branches of government. The words of the state motto, "Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation", are wrapped around the pillars, guarded by a figure dressed in colonial attire from the American Revolutionary War. Within the arms, a sword is drawn to represent the defense of the state's constitution with the motto of the United States, "In God We Trust", featured below these elements.
The flag of the Commonwealth of Kentucky was adopted on March 26, 1918. In June 1962, it was slightly redesigned.
The flag of Louisiana consists of a rectangular field of blue with the arms of Louisiana, a pelican vulning herself, in white in the center, with a ribbon beneath, also in white, containing in blue the state motto: "Union Justice Confidence". The flag was officially adopted July 1, 1912, and is often referred to as the Pelican flag.
The flag of Maine features the state coat of arms on a blue field. In the center of a heraldic shield, a moose rests under a tall pine tree. A farmer and seaman are meant to represent the traditional reliance on agriculture and the sea by the state. The North Star is intended to allude to the state motto: dirigo.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been represented by official but limited-purpose flags since 1676, though until 1908 it had no state flag per se to represent its government. A variant of the white flag with blue seal was carried by each of the Massachusetts volunteer regiments during the American Civil War alongside the National Colors. An exception were the two "Irish regiments", each of which was permitted to carry an alternative green flag with a harp symbol.
The flag of Mississippi consists of a white magnolia blossom surrounded by 21 stars and the words "In God We Trust" written below, all put over a blue Canadian pale with two vertical gold borders on a red field. The topmost star is composed of a pattern of five diamonds, an Indigenous symbol; the other 20 stars are white, as Mississippi was the 20th state to join the Union. The flag was adopted on January 11, 2021.
The flag of Pennsylvania consists of a blue field on which the state coat of arms is displayed.
The Beehive Flag is the official flag of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a horizontal tricolor with irregular bands of blue, white, and red. The middle white band contains a blue hexagon outlined in gold. Within the hexagon lies a gold-colored beehive with a five-pointed white star below it.
The state flag of Vermont displays the state's coat of arms and motto on a rectangular blue background. The Vermont General Assembly adopted the flag on June 1, 1923.
The state flag of West Virginia was officially adopted by the West Virginia Legislature on March 7, 1929. The present flag consists of a pure white field bordered by a blue stripe with the coat of arms of West Virginia in the center, wreathed by Rhododendron maximum and topped by an unfurled red ribbon reading, "State of West Virginia." It is the only state flag to bear crossing rifles, meant to illustrate the importance of the state's fight for liberty during the Civil War as the southern unionist 35th state.
The Great Seal of the State of Michigan depicts the coat of arms of the U.S. state of Michigan on a light blue field. On the dark blue shield the Sun rises over a lake and peninsula, a man holding a long gun with a raised hand represents peace and the ability to defend his rights. The elk and moose are symbols of Michigan, while the bald eagle represents the United States.
The coat of arms of Malta is the national coat of arms of the country of Malta.
The Great Seal of the State of Illinois is the official emblem of the U.S. state of Illinois, and signifies the official nature of a document produced by the state. The present seal was designed and proposed in 1868 and officially adopted in 1869. It depicts in profile a bald eagle perched on a rock with wings spread and holding a shield, with a banner in its beak and sunrise over water in the background. It replaced an earlier seal that was almost the same as the Great Seal of the United States, adopted when Illinois became a state in 1818.
The Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts contains the coat of arms of Massachusetts. The coat of arms is encircled by the Latin text "Sigillum Reipublicæ Massachusettensis". The Massachusetts Constitution designates the form of government a "commonwealth", for which respublica is the correct Latin term. The seal uses the coat of arms of Massachusetts as its central element.
With God, all things are possible is the motto of the U.S. state of Ohio. Quoted from the Gospel of Matthew, verse 19:26, it is the only state motto taken directly from the Bible. It is defined in section 5.06 of the Ohio Revised Code and sometimes appears beneath the Seal of Ohio. The motto was adopted in 1959 and survived a federal constitutional challenge in 2001. The state maintains that it is a generic expression of optimism rather than an endorsement of a particular religion.
The coat of arms of Alabama depicts a shield upon which is carried the symbols of the five states which have at various times held sovereignty over a part or the whole of what is now Alabama. These are the ancient coat of arms of France, the ancient coat of arms of Crown of Castile for Spain, the modern Union Jack of the United Kingdom and the battle flag of the Confederate States. On an escutcheon of pretence is borne the shield of the United States. The crest of the coat represents a ship which brought the French colonists who established the first permanent European settlements in the territory. Below is the state motto: Audemus jura nostra defendere, meaning "We dare defend our rights."
The coat of arms of Connecticut is an official emblem of the state of Connecticut, alongside the seal and state flag. The General Assembly of Connecticut adopted a design for the official arms of the state on March 24, 1931, which it ordered to be drawn and filed with the Secretary of the State.
The coat of arms of Mississippi is an official symbol of the State of Mississippi.
The 2020 Mississippi flag referendum was a legislatively referred state statute appearing on the November 3, 2020 general election ballot in Mississippi. Voters were asked whether the design proposed by the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag, which does not contain the Confederate battle flag and includes the words "In God We Trust", should be adopted as the new official flag of Mississippi. The referendum passed by a 72.98% to 27.02% margin on November 3, 2020. Voters were not given the option to retain the old, Confederate-based flag. Voters were asked whether the design proposed by the commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag, which does not contain the Confederate battle flag and includes the words "In God We Trust", should be adopted as the new official flag of Mississippi. The referendum passed by a 72.98% to 27.02% margin on November 3, 2020.