 | |
| Use | Civil and state flag    |
|---|---|
| Proportion | 27:37 (both 2:3 and 3:5 in use) |
| Adopted | June 13, 1907 |
| Design | A state coat of arms on a blue field |
The flag of Pennsylvania consists of a blue field on which the state coat of arms is displayed.
| | |
| Use | Civil and state flag |
|---|---|
| Proportion | 27:37 (both 2:3 and 3:5 in use) |
| Adopted | June 13, 1907 |
| Design | A state coat of arms on a blue field |
The flag of Pennsylvania consists of a blue field on which the state coat of arms is displayed.
On April 9, 1799, the Pennsylvania General Assembly authorized the use of the state coat of arms on flags for the state militia. [2] These flags took various forms, most commonly featuring the coat of arms either replacing the field of stars in the union of the US flag, or being placed alone on a field of blue. The depiction of the coat of arms would also vary from flag to flag, as the colors in the escutcheon of the arms were changed in 1809, and the color of the horses was not standardized until 1875. [3]
The legislature eventually chose to create a standardized flag for general use, featuring a now-standardized coat of arms alone on a plain field of blue mandated to be the "same color as the blue field in the flag of the United States". [4] This new flag was enacted by law on June 13, 1907. [5]
The Pennsylvania flag has been criticized for the complexity of its design, and its inability to stand out from other similar state flags across the US. Several attempts have been made by the Pennsylvania legislature and the public to address these criticisms by changing or altering the flag.
In 2001, the North American Vexillological Association surveyed 100 of its members and 337 members of the general public on the designs of the 72 U.S. state, U.S. territorial and Canadian provincial flags. The survey ranked Pennsylvania's flag 57th out of the 72, with a score of 3.69 on a scale of 0 to 10. [6] Its low ranking was attributed to both the complexity of the coat of arms on its design, and its inability to stand out among a sea of similar “seal on a bedsheet” designs common to more than half of U.S. state flags. [7]
Between 2004 and 2014, several attempts were made to add the word "Pennsylvania" to the state flag. According to former State Representative Tim Solobay (who introduced the first set of bills), this was intended to make Pennsylvania's flag more unique and identifiable. [8]
While the bill failed to leave committee in the first two sessions it was introduced, [9] [10] a 2006 survey offered by Solobay's office [11] to help refine the defined design may have swayed legislators to act on the bill, which was amended on May 7, 2007. [12] On June 11, 2007, The Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill, 164–31. [8] The Senate State Government Committee never considered the bill, which died at the end of the Pennsylvania General Assembly's two-year session.
The bill was reintroduced by Solobay in 2009, [13] and on the next session day, a second similar bill was introduced by former State Representative Gary Haluska with a competing definition of the design. [14] Neither bill was raised in committee that session. Haluska's proposal was reintroduced alone in both the 2011–12 [15] and 2013–14 sessions, [16] and died in committee both times.
In 2017 the "Keystone Flag" was designed by Tara Stark, [17] a Pennsylvania resident. [18] The flag incorporates a keystone symbol, the de-facto state emblem of Pennsylvania, into a tricolor design using the colors on the coat of arms of Pennsylvania [19] as an intentional callback to the symbolism of the existing flag. [20] [17]
The flag gained popularity in online vexillological circles, winning multiple online contests, and began receiving wider attention following high-profile changes to the flag of Mississippi and the flag of Utah. The design was formally released into the public domain in August 2022. [21] Stark launched a Kickstarter campaign in November 2022 to print flags and create other merchandise featuring the design, raising more than $4,500, and the design later began being sold by multiple unrelated manufacturers. It has since seen more popular use, notably including on a lapel pin worn by one state legislator, [22] and has been referenced by multiple media outlets. [23] [24] [25]
On June 16, 2023, Pennsylvania State Representative Joe Webster released a memorandum proposing a commission to "study the history of the state flag, solicit design submissions for a new state flag, and recommend changes to the state flag." [26] To this end, House Resolution 163 was introduced on June 27, 2023. [27] [ needs update? ]
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The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts.
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Dwight Evans is an American politician serving as a U.S. representative from Pennsylvania since 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 203rd district for over thirty-five years.
Elisabeth Baker (née Jones) is an American politician from Pennsylvania currently serving as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from the 20th District since 2007. She chairs the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee.
Michael Coyne Turzai is an American politician and former Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives who served as Speaker of the House. He is from Allegheny County and represented the 28th legislative district between 2001 and 2020. His district included the municipalities of Pine Township, Marshall Township, Bradford Woods, Franklin Park, and McCandless. Turzai served as the House Majority Leader from 2011 until 2015, and was elected Speaker in January 2015. He was a candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania in 2018 until he suspended his campaign in February 2018. He resigned from his House seat in 2020; after leaving office, he became general counsel for Peoples Gas, a subsidiary of Essential Utilities.
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Robert L. Freeman is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He currently serves as the Democratic Chair of the House Local Government Committee. In 2003, the political website PoliticsPA named him as a possible successor to House Minority Leader Bill DeWeese.
Thaddeus Kirkland is an American politician who served as the Democratic Mayor of Chester, Pennsylvania from 2016 to 2024. In May 2023, he lost the Democratic mayoral primary to Stefan Roots. He served as a Democratic member of the 159th district from 1993 to 2016.
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Brian Kendall Sims is an American politician, activist and attorney. A Democrat, he was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 182nd district from 2013 until 2022. Sims is also a lawyer and advocate for LGBT civil rights. Sims became the first openly gay elected state legislator in Pennsylvania history. He won re-election on November 6, 2018. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania in 2022, finishing in second place behind Austin Davis with 25% of the vote. Since leaving public office in 2022, Sims has served as the Managing Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy at Out Leadership. In 2023, he joined the Board of Trustees of the Tyler Clementi Foundation.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania enjoy most of the same rights as non-LGBT people. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Pennsylvania. Same-sex couples and families headed by same-sex couples are eligible for all of the protections available to opposite-sex married couples. Pennsylvania was the final Mid-Atlantic state without same-sex marriage, indeed lacking any form of same-sex recognition law until its statutory ban was overturned on May 20, 2014.
The coat of arms of Pennsylvania is an official emblem of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, alongside the seal and state flag, and was adopted in 1778.
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Stephanie Paige Borowicz is an American politician currently serving as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 76th district since 2019.
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The keystone symbol is the name commonly given to the de-facto state emblem of Pennsylvania. It is a stylized keystone, an architectural term for a wedge-shaped stone placed at the top of an arch. The shape consists of two isosceles trapezoids, each with the smaller side facing downward, with one being smaller, more flat, and placed on top of the other. The symbol alludes to Pennsylvania's official nickname, The Keystone State. Although the symbol has not been designated as the official state emblem, it is widely used by the Pennsylvanian government and by individuals.
