History of the State of Arkansas and the Arkansas Flag

The STORY of the Arkansas State Flag

Arkansas - The South Central region of the United States ^[1]became the 25^th state on June 15, 1836. According to Arkansas secretary of state, the name of this state originates from a Native American tribe.

Like other states, Arkansas, has a flag that represents the state. The State’s flag ^[2]is flown over hundreds and thousands of government and private locations during various occasions. However, do you know all about the flag of Arkansas? If not, read this article and learn about the information on the Arkansas flag. In addition, know about who designed it, when was it adopted, what it represents, the story behind the evolution of the flag, color, symbol, significance of the flag, the seal of the flag and more.

Arkansas State Flag

The flag of Arkansas also known as Arkansas state flag is used by Arkansas’. The flag was adopted by the state on February 26, 1913 and was designed by Willie K Hocker ^[3].

What does the Flag Represent?

The flag represents that Arkansas as the twenty-fifth state admitted to the union.

The Evolution of banner

During the Civil war, Arkansas state soldiers fought under a variety of banners, but no flag or banner was announced official for the state. Ultimately, the military requirement brought a civil flag for the state and here is the story behind the same.

From where did it evolve?

In 1912, the battleship Arkansas was announced to be commissioned. On the occasion, the Pine Bluff chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution promised to present the ship with an Arkansas state flag.

Flag designing competition

According to the promise, the daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) wrote to the Secretary of State to learn about the flag. After writing to the secretary, they were told that Arkansas had no flag of its own since it became a state in the year 1836.

Seeing the requirement of the flag to use on the battleship for the occasion, the Daughters of the American Revolution took action and asked the secretary to launch a statewide designing competition. Their motive behind doing so was to get the best flag created as quickly as possible.

Who won the competition?

The contest to design the Arkansas state flag was opened to contestants across the state many people took part. Approximately sixty-five designs that included crayon drawings, watercolor sketches and miniature silk flags were chosen for the final selection. However, among the flags submitted and selected, the flag designed and submitted by Miss Willie Hocker from Wabbaseka was selected by the commission to be used for the State of Arkansas. Learn more about how and where the Arkansas State flag ^[4] is to be displayed.

Color, Symbol and significance of the Arkansas Flag

The state flag of Arkansas has red, white and blue that indicates that Arkansas is one of the states of the United States.

Red

Flag of Arkansas has the rectangular-shaped filled with the red color.

Blue

Inside the rectangular shape, there is a large white diamond having a wide band in the blue.

Along with different colors on the flag, there are different shapes that signify the history of the state.

The Large diamond

The large diamond on the Arkansas flag denotes that Arkansas is the single diamond-producing state of the United States.

White Stars

There are twenty-five white stars on the flag. These twenty-five stars on the flag denote that Arkansas is the twenty-fifth state of the United States.

Blue Stars inside the diamond

The three blue stars seen on the flag of Arkansas along with the printed “ARKANSAS” symbolize three nations that ruled it before it became the state. The nations are Spain, France and the United States itself.

The three blue stars inside the diamond denote that Arkansas was the third state made after the Louisiana Purchase.

The single or lone star above ARKANSAS

The fourth lone star above the word ARKANSAS in the flag symbolizes the confederacy.

The Great Arkansas Seal

The great seal of Arkansas is the territorial seal. Samuel Calhoun designed the seal but further in the year 1836 (when Arkansas became a State) the seal design was altered.

Changes in the flag

The flag designed by Miss Wille Hocker did not have the Confederate of the single star above ARKANSAS. This was the single change made years after the flag that was used on the battleship of Arkansas.

In 2019, Representative Charles Blake produced a bill ^[5] that required changing the star and its meaning, but the bill was not passed and the flag of Arkansas remained the same.

The red rectangular flag with its big blue diamond; four stars with ARKANSAS inside the diamond (three below the word and one above the word); and twenty-five stars inside the blue borders of the diamond is the Arkansas state flag. People of Arkansas, respect their flag that shows the entire history and use it on various occasions to show their respect and gratitude towards the state. Learn more about the Arkansas state flag ^[6].

Purchase our Made in USA, Arkansas State Flag by clicking here.

References

1. United States

2. States Flag

3. Willie K Hocker/ Miss Willie Hocker

4. Arkansas State Flag

5. Produced a bill

6. Arkansas State flag

Purchase our Made in USA, Arkansas State Flag by clicking here.