Flag of Vermont

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Flag of Vermont consists of the State Coat-of-Arms upon a field of azure. Below the escutcheon is a red ribbon with the state name "Vermont" and the state motto "Freedom and Unity." The motto is central to the Vermont ideal of balancing personal freedom with the individual’s responsibility to their community. The current flag was adopted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont on 1 June 1923.

A flag of similar design, but hand painted on silk satin, was used as the Governor’s Flag from c. 1830 until 1923. A civil war era infantry flag of similar design can be seen at the Vermont State House in the Old Supreme Court Chamber, now used as an assembly members’ reading room.

Because the format is similar to many other state flags, especially Maine, Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan, some have called for adopting the flag of the Vermont Republic (the original Green Mountain Boys infantry standard) or an altogether new design.

[edit] Older Vermont flags

From the establishment of the Vermont Republic in 1777 through admission to statehood in 1791, and on to 1804, Vermont used the flag of the Green Mountain Boys. When Vermont joined the United States of America on March 4, 1791, it did not adopt an official state flag, but both the Green Mountain Boys battle flag, and the later Governor’s flag (above) were used informally.

On 1 May 1804, the number of U.S. states rose to seventeen, and it was expected that the U.S. flag would change to 17 stars and 17 stripes. In recognition, Vermont adopted what was expected to be the new U.S. flag with the addition of the name "VERMONT" embroidered along the top. The U.S. flag did not actually change, resulting in the Vermont flag having more stars and stripes than the national flag.

On 20 October 1837, Vermont changed its flag to a design based on the current 13-stripe U.S. flag, but with the multiple stars of the blue canton replaced with a single large star surrounding Vermont’s coat of arms. The flags based on these specifications varied in the number of points on the star (five and eight, with eight slightly more common), and the exact details of the center of the star (with either the Great Seal or the Coat-of-Arms being used).

Because of confusion with the U.S. flag, the design of the Vermont Governor’s Flag (see above) was adopted as the official state flag on 1 June 1923.

[edit] External links

• Vermont's entry at Flags of the World
• Vermont Flag Proposal – suggested new state flag by Jonathan David Makepeace

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