The flag of the state of Kansas was adopted in 1927. The elements of the state flag include the

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

state seal and a sunflower. This original design was modified in 1961 to add the name of the state at the bottom of the flag.

Official description

The official flag of Kansas is represented by a dark-

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

silk rectangle representing Kansas arranged horizontally with the state seal aligned in the center. Above the seal is a sunflower which sits over a bar of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

and light blue. Below the seal is printed the name of the state "''KANSAS''".

Seal of Kansas

The state seal centered on the flag tells the history of Kansas and his figures representing pioneer life. The seal contains: * Landscape with a rising

sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

(the

east East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

) * River and steamboat (

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

) * Settler's cabin and a man plowing a field (

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

) oreground*

Wagon train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...

heading west (American expansion) * Indians hunting

American Bison The American bison (''Bison bison'') is a species of bison native to North America. Sometimes colloquially referred to as American buffalo or simply Bubalina, buffalo (a different clade of bovine), it is one of two extant species of bison, alongs ...

(the buffalo are fleeing from the Indians) * Cluster of 34 stars (top of the seal, representing Kansas's admission as the 34th state) * State motto "''

Ad Astra per Aspera ''Ad astra'' is a Latin phrase meaning "to the stars". The phrase has origins with Virgil, who wrote in his ''Aeneid'': "''sic itur ad astra''" ('thus one journeys to the stars') and "''opta ardua pennis astra sequi''" ('desire to pursue the h ...

''" -

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: "To the Stars through Difficulties" (above the stars) The thirty-four stars clustered at the top of the seal identify Kansas as the 34th state to be accepted into the Union of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Kansas state law provides that the flag is to be used on all occasions when the state is officially represented.

History

The flag of Kansas was designed in 1925 by Hazel Avery and first used in a Fourth of July parade in Lincoln, Kansas. Officially adopted by the Kansas State Legislature in 1927 and modified in 1961 (the word "Kansas" was added below the seal in gold block lettering). First flown at

Fort Riley Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Ge ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Benjamin S. Paulen in 1927 for the troops at Fort Riley and for the

Kansas National Guard The Kansas National Guard, is the component of the United States National Guard in the U.S. state of Kansas. It comprises both the Kansas Army National Guard and the Kansas Air National Guard. The Governor of Kansas is Commander-in-Chief of the K ...

. From 1925 to 1927, Kansas used a ''state banner'' instead of a flag. The Kansas state banner, which consisted of a large sunflower and the word "Kansas" on a blue field, was intended to be hung from a horizontal bar, rather than a vertical flag pole. It was given a unique design to avoid "competition" with the United States flag. However, after the banner was rejected for display in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and generated complaints for its awkward method of hanging, the state legislature adopted a state flag that saw the addition of the word "Kansas" at the bottom in 1961 but has otherwise retained its original design. Flag of Kansas (1925–1927)

Standard of the Governor of Kansas (pre-1961)

According to 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. It ...

(NAVA), the state banner exists today as an official alternative to the state flag. The organization's website features the banner – a lone sunflower on a blue field – and attributes it to Adjutant General Joe Nickell. However, the Kansas State Historical Society describes the same design as a flag submitted by Albert T. Reid before the state banner was adopted, and makes no mention of its status as an alternative flag. Flag_of_Kansas_(1927-1961)

References

External links

Kansas State Flag
{{Kansas

Symbols of Kansas

Official description

Seal of Kansas

History

See also

References

External links