Ohio State Flags

History of the Ohio State Flag

Ohio adopted its distinctive swallowtail flag on May 9, 1902. Architect John Eisenmann designed it for the Ohio building at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition. The flag has red and white stripes, a blue triangular field, seventeen white stars, and a red disc within a white ring. Its stars represent the thirteen original states plus four more to mark Ohio as the seventeenth state. The circular emblem suggests Ohio’s initial and a buckeye. The design contains no motto or ribbon.