Flag of Kansas
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Infobox flag The flag of the U.S. state of Kansas was adopted in 1927. The elements of the state flag include the Kansas state seal and a sunflower. This original design was modified in 1961 to add the name of the state at the bottom of the flag.
Official descriptionEdit
The official flag of Kansas is represented by a dark-blue silk rectangle representing Kansas arranged horizontally with the state seal aligned in the center. Above the seal is a sunflower which sits over a wreath of gold and light blue. Below the seal is printed the name of the state "KANSAS".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Seal of KansasEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The state seal centered on the flag tells the history of Kansas and his figures representing pioneer life. The seal contains:
- Landscape with a rising sun (the east)
- River and steamboat (commerce)
- Settler's cabin and a man plowing a field (agriculture)
- Wagon train heading west (American expansion)
- Indians hunting American Bison (the buffalo are fleeing from the Indians)
- Cluster of 34 stars (top of the seal, representing Kansas's admission as the 34th state)
- State motto "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}" - Latin : "To the Stars through Difficulties" (above the stars)
The thirty-four stars clustered at the top of the seal identify Kansas as the 34th state to be accepted into the Union of the United States.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Kansas state law provides that the flag is to be used on all occasions when the state is officially represented.<ref>Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution of the State of Kansas</ref>
HistoryEdit
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During Bleeding Kansas, an unknown party made a 31-star U.S. flag with the letter "K" in the top right of the canton. The "K" stood for Kansas and was flown when the area was still a territory. It is unknown whether the flag was used in support or opposition to slavery in the territory, but it is known that the party supported Kansas statehood.<ref name=":0" />
In 1891, a third party was holding a Convention in Cincinnati hoping to rival the Republicans and Democrats. Every state in the country sent their delegates to the convention. After the convention was over a huge parade was held in the city, with it being led by Kansas's delegates carrying with them a state banner.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The banner's design was never described.
In 1916, the Daughters of the American Revolution organised a contest to create a flag for Kansas. The winner was Esther Northrup of Lawrence, whose design consisted of three horizontal stripes of red, white and blue, with a gold sunflower on a blue background in the canton, and the state seal in the center of the sunflower. The proposed flag was submitted to the Kansas legislature in 1917, but was ultimately not adopted.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
State bannerEdit
From 1925 to 1927, Kansas used a "state banner" instead of a flag. The banner, which consisted of the state seal surrounded by the petals of a sunflower beneath the word "Kansas", on a 21 by 28 inch blue field, was intended to be hung from a horizontal bar rather than a vertical flagpole. It was given a unique design to avoid "competition" with the United States flag. However, after the banner was rejected for display in Washington, D.C., and generated complaints for its awkward method of hanging, the state legislature adopted a state flag to replace the banner. The current state flag retains most of the design from the state banner.<ref name="KSHS Banner">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The original copy of the state banner still exists in good condition. The banner was initially held in the Kansas Museum of Art,<ref name="KSHS Banner"/> but it is now currently on display at the Kansas State Capitol.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
According to the North American Vexillological Association, the state banner exists today as an "official" alternative to the state flag. The organization makes the false claim that the banner was adopted on June 30, 1953. The organization's website features an alternative banner design – a lone sunflower on a blue field – and attributes it to Adjutant General Joe Nickell.<ref name="NAVA Banner">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, the Kansas State Historical Society describes the same design as a proposal flag submitted by Albert T. Reid before the state banner was adopted, and makes no mention of its status as an alternative flag.<ref name="KSHS Flag">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There is no evidence that the state banner is still in use.
Current flagEdit
Flags similar to the current state flag have been used as early as 1917. The official state flag of Kansas was designed in 1925 by Hazel Avery and first used in a Fourth of July parade in Lincoln, Kansas.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was officially adopted by the Kansas State Legislature in 1927. The flag was modified on September 24, 1961, to add the word "KANSAS" below the seal. {{#invoke:Gallery|gallery}}
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
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