The flag of the state of Michigan is a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

set on a dark blue field, as set forth by

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

state law.Act 209 of 1911 Coat-of-Arms and State Flag
in Michigan Compiled Laws (The

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 ...

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 supporters, 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 trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

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 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 ...

mottos. From top-to-bottom they are: #On red ribbon: "

E Pluribus Unum ''E pluribus unum'' ( , , ) – Latin for "Out of many, one" (also translated as "One out of many" or "One from many") – is a traditional motto of the United States, appearing on the Great Seal along with '' Annuit cœptis'' (Latin for "he ...

," 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 Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

, New York,

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

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. It ...

(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 sove ...

, 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

Symbols of Michigan Flags of Michigan

Design

History

Pledge

See also

References

External links