Flag of Ohio

Flag of Ohio

Use	Civil and state flag
Adopted	July 10, 1902
Design	Guidon consisting of 5 horizontal stripes alternating between red and white. The chevron is azure containing a white and red "O" and 17 white stars.
Designed by	John Eisemann

Flag of Ohio flying below the United States flag at Conneaut harbor

The flag of the state of Ohio was adopted in 1902 and designed by John Eisemann, for the 1901 Pan-American Exposition.

Design

The large blue triangle represents Ohio's hills and valleys, and the stripes represent roads and waterways. The five stripes also represent that Ohio is one of the five states that comprised the Northwest Territory (Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin). The 17 stars symbolize that Ohio was the 17th state admitted to the union. The 13 stars on the left, above, and below the circle are for the 13 original colonies of the United States. The white circle with its red center not only represents the first letter of the state's name, but also its nickname, "the Buckeye State."^[1]

Drawn by John Eisemann, architect and designer for the Ohio State Pan-American Exposition Commission,^[1] it is the only American state flag that is non-rectangular, and one of only a few non-rectangular official jurisdictional flags, at the state level or above, in the world (the other is the flag of Nepal). Loosely based upon the design of cavalry flags of the Civil War and Spanish-American War, the proper name for this type of flag is burgee.^[1]

The flag forms the basis of the logo of the NHL hockey team, the Columbus Blue Jackets. It is also commonly flown by the Ohio State University Marching Band during football games.

Ohio Flag pledge

On commemorating the 100 years of the creation of the Ohio flag in 2002 the Ohio General Assembly adopted a pledge to the flag:

“

I salute the flag of the state of Ohio and pledge to the Buckeye State respect and loyalty.

”

Folding the flag

A method of folding the flag of Ohio was created by Alex Weinstock, an Ohio Boy Scout, for his Eagle Scout service project, which was passed by the 125th Ohio General Assembly as House Bill 552, and signed into law by Governor Bob Taft on February 15, 2005.^[2]

Text of 125th Ohio General Assembly House Bill #552

The general assembly hereby establishes a recommended procedure for the folding of the state flag by two people. The procedure is as follows:

With the flag unfolded, fold the flag in half lengthwise so that the points of the flag are aligned. Fold the flag in half lengthwise a second time to form a long strip with the red disc facing the ground. Next, fold the pointed end back onto itself to form a rectangle. These steps entail three folds. Starting on the end formed by the fold of the pointed end back onto itself, fold two inches of the flag onto itself for a flag with a three-foot hoist and a five-foot fly, or another appropriate width of fold for a flag of a different size. Repeat the folds a total of fourteen times, alternating the folds in a fan-like manner. The result is a total of seventeen folds symbolizing that Ohio was the seventeenth state admitted to the Union. Finally, neatly and snugly wrap the remaining length of flag around the fan-folds to form a compact rectangle.

Flag of the Governor

See also: Flags of the Governors of the U.S. States

Standard of the Governor of Ohio

The flag of the Governor of Ohio consists of the Great Seal of Ohio encompassed with white stars on a field of red. Like most U.S. Governors' flags, there are four five-point stars at the corners of the field. The flag is prescribed in the Ohio Revised Code §5.011^[3], and was adopted on September 30th, 1963.

See also

Ohio portal

• State of Ohio
• Symbols of the state of Ohio
• Great Seal of the State of Ohio
• Flags of the U.S. states

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Ohio's Flag". Ō•HI′•Ō Defined (4^th edition ed.). Columbus, Ohio: Ohio Secretary of State and Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN). 2006. http://new.oplin.org/ohiodefined/flag.htm. 
2. ^ 125th General Assembly of Ohio, H.B. 552
3. ^ Ohio Revised Code §5.011

External links

• Ohio at Flags of the World
• [1]
• 125th General Assembly of Ohio, H.B. 552
• http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1883
• Ohio Flag folding instructions in PDF form