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.Act 209 of 1911 Coat-of-Arms and State Flag
in Michigan Compiled Laws (The Governor has a variant of the flag with a white instead of blue field.) The state has an official flag month from June 14 through July 14.

Design

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. As

supporter In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up. Early forms of supporters are found in medieval seals. However, unlike the coro ...

s, the elk and moose are derived from the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trade, fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake b ...

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. The design features three Latin mottos. From top-to-bottom they are: #On red ribbon: " E Pluribus Unum," means "Out of many, one," a motto of the United States. #On light blue shield: "Tuebor," means "I will defend." #On white ribbon: "Si Quæris Peninsulam Amœnam Circumspice," means "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you." (The official state motto). It is one of eight U.S. state flags to feature an eagle, alongside those of Illinois, Iowa,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...

, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Utah.

History

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 side. 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. The

North American Vexillological Association The North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) is a membership organization devoted to vexillology, the scientific and scholarly study of flags. It was founded in 1967 by American vexillologist Whitney Smith (1940–2016), and others. Its ...

(NAVA), in its 2001 survey of

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sov ...

, 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. In November 2016, a bill was introduced in the Michigan state legislature by Michigan State Senator Steven Bieda that would have provided for a flag commission to head up a public design contest to change the current state flag, but it was ultimately unsuccessful. If the bill had passed, however, the current state flag would have been discontinued in January 2019 and replaced with a new design.

Pledge

Michigan's pledge of allegiance to the state flag was written by Harold G. Coburn and was officially adopted in 1972.

References

External links

The State of Michigan

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flag Of Michigan Michigan Symbols of Michigan Flags of Michigan Michigan

Design

History

Pledge

See also

References

External links