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State Flag

Adopted in 1913.

Each state in the country has customarily adopted a state Flag. Since the colonial Days of 1775 each state designed their flags to help distinguish the ideas and tradition of that particular state. The original Utah State Flag was adopted by the State Legislature in 1896 and revised in 1913.

Explanation of the Symbols on Utah's State Flag

The Utah State Flag has a blue background with the State Seal inscribed in the center and is easily distinguished from other state flags.

American Eagle with wings outspread, grasping six arrows in its talons, symbolizes protection in peace and war.
Bee Hive is the symbol of hard work and industry.
Sego Lily is a symbol of peace.
Draped American Flag is the symbol of our support to the nation.
"1847" is the year the Mormon Pioneer entered the Salt Lake Valley.
"1896" is the year Utah was admitted as the 45th state (January 4, 1896).

The Utah state flag, as we know it today, was made the official flag of Utah when Gov. William Spry signed House Joint Resolution 1 in 1913 (Utah Code 63-13-5).

The original state flag was presented to Gov. Heber M. Wells in 1903 by the Utah State Society Daughters of the Revolution. According to the organization's minutes, Governor Wells asked the group to make the first state flag. The flag was made of Utah silk and embroidered by Agnes Teudt Fernelius. Each member of the USSDR contributed one dollar to help pay for it.

On October 16, 1903, it was reported at their meeting "that a mistake had been made in drawing the seal of our state on the flag which had been presented to the Governor of Utah in May last. The matter was then discussed at length after which a print of the state seal was examined to see where corrections should be made." It was found that "the flag made by Our Society which had been presented to and accepted by the Governor and his staff was in reality on the Governor's regimental flag. A state flag would in compliance with an act of the State legislature have to be made under direction of or by approval of said legislature."

They then took the flag to H.L.A. Culmer, an artist, "and had him correctly draw according to the proper perspective as nearly as possible to design of the State Seal on the before mentioned flag after which it had been taken to M.I. to be embroidered and further that it would be completed for inspection at the March meeting."

The governor wrote to them, "It will be my pleasure to display this flag upon every important occasion where the Governor's flag may be required, both at the World's Fair in St. Louis in celebration of the Louisiana Purchase and elsewhere during my incumbency."

This flag was used until 1913. In 1912 a second flag was commissioned by the Sons and Daughters of Utah Pioneers to be presented to the battleship Utah. It was made by and eastern man. When it arrived it was found to have a gold circle around the design. Through the efforts of Wells Cannon the new flag was adopted by the Utah State Legislature.

According to the Utah Code (63-13-5):

The state flag of Utah shall be a flag of blue field, fringed, with gold borders, with the following device worked in natural colors on the center of the blue field: The center a shield: above the shield and thereon an American eagle with outstretched wings; the top of the shield pierced with six arrows arranged crosswise; upon the shield under the arrows the word "industry," and below the word "Industry" on the center of the shield, a beehive; on each side of the beehive, growing sego lilies; below the beehive and near the bottom of the shield, the word "Utah," and below the word "Utah" and on the bottom of the shield, the figures "1847"; with the appearance of being back of the shield there shall be two American flags on flagstaffs placed crosswise with the flags so draped that they will project beyond each side of the shield, the heads of the flagstaffs appearing in front of the eagle's wings and the bottom of each staff appearing over the face of the draped flag below the shield and flags and upon the blue field, the figures "1896"; around the entire design, a narrow circle of gold.

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