Use Civil and state flag | ||
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Proportion 1:1.6/5:8 - except for 3'x5' and 4'x6' Adopted 1923 (standardized in 1967) Design The state seal sized at 1/3 the length of the flag centered on a field of dark green. | ||
The flag of the state of Washington consists of the state seal (which displays an image of George Washington) on a field of dark green with gold fringe being optional. It is the only U.S. state flag with a field of green as well as the only state flag with the image of an American president.
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History
The first evidence of a state flag bearing similarity to the present official one relates to one designed by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).
In 1914, the national society of the DAR asked the state organization to send a state flag to Washington, D.C. to be hung in the DAR Memorial Continental Hall. Finding in Olympia that there was no state flag, a committee of the DAR chaired by S.J. Chadwick, wife of the then Justice of the Supreme Court Stephen J. Chadwick worked on a flag design. The flag they designed is described as having 'a green background for the Evergreen State, upon which was the seal of the State of Washington...' The banner was used in Memorial Continental Hall and then returned to Washington in April 1916 to hang behind the speaker's table at the annual state assembly of the DAR.
In 1923, the State Legislature and Senate adopted Senate Bill 154 into law without the Governor's signature to establish the official flag of the State of Washington.
In 1929, the DAR presented a state flag to Governor Roland H. Hartley, who received it on behalf of the state. This banner is still to be found in the official reception room of the Capitol.
Reproduction
Because the seal must be stitched on both sides, the flag is the most costly state flag in the United States. People who wish to duplicate the Washington state flag must send two copies of their version of the flag to the Washington Secretary of State. If approved, the secretary will then send one copy of the flag back to its maker marked "approved" and keep the other on file.
According to state law (RCW 1.20.010), "The official flag of the state of Washington shall be of dark green silk or bunting and shall bear in its center a reproduction of the seal of the state of Washington embroidered, printed, painted or stamped thereon. The edges of the flag may, or may not, be fringed. If a fringe is used the same shall be of gold or yellow color of the same shade as the seal. The dimensions of the flag may vary."
In 2001, the North American Vexillological Association surveyed its members on the designs of the 72 U.S. state, U.S. territorial and Canadian provincial flags. The survey found that the flag of Washington ranked 47th out of the 72.