Flag of Iowa

Iowa

Use	Civil and state flag
Adopted	March 29, 1921 (1921-03-29) (Modification in 2018 (2018))
Design	A vertical tricolor of blue, white, and red. The center stripe contains a spreading eagle holding in its beak a blue ribbon bearing the state motto above the word Iowa in red.
Designed by	Dixie Cornell Gebhardt

The flag of the U.S. state of Iowa is a vertical tricolor flag designed by Dixie Cornell Gebhardt in 1917. Iowa legislators officially adopted the flag in 1921.

The State of Iowa did not have a flag for the first 75 years of its existence, largely because of calls for national unity during and after the American Civil War, in which Iowa fought for the Union.^[1] The first unofficial state flag was used in the 1894 Worlds Fair. It was carried by Governor Boies. The flag was square with the head of a hawk in the middle of it's field.^[2] The first request for a state flag was in 1909^[2] by Iowa National Guardsmen who would again make a request in 1910.^[3] In Fort Dodge, Iowa, members of the military advisory broad made a design for a state flag and sent it to the state Legislature. The design was described as:^[4]

It was to be white around the outside, white thirteen stars in each corner, to represent the original colonies. There was a wide blue border around this in which there was to be intermingled Forty-six gilt stars for the present states and 91 white stars to represent the counties. On the inside of the first white border there was to be a coat of arms on one side of the center and a hawks head on the other.

The flag was not adopted because it was considered not adequate. The flag was later hung in the halls of the Iowa State Capitol.^[3] It was not until World War I that the creation of another state flag was requested, recorded first by the Iowa Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).^[1] Iowa National Guardsmen positioned along the Mexican border made several requests for a flag, as other states had flags to represent themselves.^[5] In 1917, Iowa was one of three states that had no flag.^[6]

The flag was designed by DAR member and Knoxville, Iowa, resident Dixie Cornell Gebhardt, who was prompted to create the design by Iowa guardsmen.^[7] It was approved by the DAR flag committee in early May 1917 and presented to the Iowa State Council for Defense, where it was accepted on May 11, 1917.^[5] The flag was sent to Iowa troops for designation but would not be officially adopted as the state flag for nearly four more years. It costed $800 (around $20,091.56 today) to make 10 state flags for each Iowa regiment.^[8] One of the state flags given by the 3rd Iowa Infantry had name "IOWA" in gold and red.^[9]

Iowa governor William Lloyd Harding formally accepted the flag on behalf of the state on March 19, 1918,^[10] but legislative action on adoption failed in February 1919.^[11] Still, the Iowa Daughters met with legislators urging them to accept the flag again in September 1920, suggesting that past failures were caused by high expenses.^[12]

Despite not being adopted, the flag was used often throughout the country to represent Iowa, notably in Continental Hall where it was among official flags of other states, though marked as unofficial. This was all the more reason to adopt the flag officially, according to the wife of congressman Horace Mann Towner.^[12]

Finally, in January 1921, Iowa legislators again deliberated on the adoption of an official flag,^[13] and by mid-March of that same year, the flag was accepted as law.^[14]

In 2001, a survey conducted by the North American Vexillological Association placed Iowa's flag 42nd in design quality out of the 72 Canadian provincial, U.S. state and U.S. territorial flags ranked.^[15]

The banner is only to be used in official representation of the state of Iowa or in distinction between citizens of different states. The flag should always be flown below and "subservient" to the flag of the United States,^[16] while being provided and raised by public officers. Schools must fly the banner when classes are in session, and public buildings may fly the banner on secular days.^[17]

Iowa law officially describes the state flag.

The design consists of three vertical stripes of blue, white, and red, the blue stripe being nearest the staff and the white stripe being in the center. On the central white stripe is depicted a spreading eagle bearing in its beak blue streamers on which is inscribed the state motto, 'Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain' in white letters, with the word 'Iowa' in red letters below the streamers.

Cornell Gebhardt assigned meaning to each color of the flag: blue represents loyalty, justice, and truth; white stands for purity; red symbolizes courage.^[19] The Des Moines Register suggested that the design hearkens back to Iowa's history as a French territory, with both flags containing blue, white and red from left to right, though Iowa's banner has a wider white section. The Register also stated that the word "Iowa" written in red symbolizes the "Iowa soldier [writing] in letters of blood on the white page of history his unalterable determination to defend the ideals represented by the banner and its wonderful motto."^[20]

It is one of nine U.S. state flags to feature an eagle, alongside those of Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wyoming. The eagle carrying streamers in its beak also features on the Iowa state seal.^[21]

• Flag of Des Moines, Iowa
• List of Iowa state symbols
• Seal of Iowa