Flag of Washington, D.C.

Flag of the District of Columbia

Adopted	October 15, 1938
Design	Three red stars over two red horizontal bars on a white field
Designed by	Charles A.R. Dunn

George Washington's coat of arms inspired the design of Washington, D.C.'s flag.

The Washington family coat of arms in 14th century stained glass at Selby Abbey, England

The flag of the District of Columbia, USA, consists of three red stars above two red bars on a white background. It is based on the design of the coat of arms of George Washington, first used to identify the family in the twelfth century, when one of George Washington's ancestors took possession of Washington Old Hall, then in County Durham, north-east England. For heraldic reasons, the stars are properly called mullets.

History

For over a century, the District of Columbia was without an official flag and flew several unofficial banners—usually the flag of the D.C. National Guard. In 1938, Congress established a commission to choose an official, original design. The commission held a public competition, and picked the submission of graphic designer Charles A.R. Dunn, who had first proposed his design in 1921.

His design was officially adopted on October 15, 1938, using the following specification:

The proportions of the design are prescribed in terms of the hoist, or vertical height, of the flag as follows: the upper white portion shall be 3/10 of the hoist; the two horizontal bars are each 2/10 of the hoist; the white area between the bars 1/10 of the hoist; and the base, or lowest white space, is 2/10 of the hoist. The three five-pointed stars have a diameter of 2/10 of the hoist and are spaced equidistant in the fly, or horizontal, dimension of the flag.^[1]

In 2002, the D.C. Council debated a proposal to change the flag in protest of the District’s lack of voting rights in Congress. The new design would have added the letters “D.C.” to the center star and the words “Taxation Without Representation” in white to the two red bars, a slogan already in use on the District's license plates. The change presumably would have been temporary and revoked once the city achieved equal representation or statehood. It passed the council on a 10–2 vote, but support for the proposal soon eroded, and then-mayor Anthony A. Williams never signed the bill.^[2]

In a 2004 poll on the North American Vexillological Association website, Washington’s flag was voted the best design among United States city flags.^[3] It had previously placed eighth in their survey of North American state and provincial flags.^[4]

See also

Washington, D.C. portal

• Seal of the District of Columbia

References

1. ^ Government of the District of Columbia, untitled monograph, 1963, pp. 21-23, as cited by "Flags of the World: District of Columbia (U.S.)". http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-dc.html. Retrieved 2007-12-06. 
2. ^ "Flags of the World: D.C. Taxation Without Representation flag (U.S.)". http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-dc-nt.html. Retrieved 2007-12-06. 
3. ^ "Washington, D.C. Tops American City Flags Survey", North American Vexillological Association press release, 2 October 2004
4. ^ "New Mexico Tops State/Provincial Flags Survey, Georgia Loses by Wide Margin", North American Vexillological Association press release, 10 June 2001

External links

Media related to Flag of Washington, D.C. at Wikimedia Commons

• "Official Symbols of the District of Columbia". Government of the District of Columbia. http://about.dc.gov/symbols.asp. Retrieved 2008-11-29.