The flag

Flag

A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...

s of the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

s exhibit a wide variety of regional influences and local histories, as well as widely different styles and design principles. Modern state flags date from the 1890s when states wanted to have distinctive symbols at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition

World's Columbian Exposition

The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...

 in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

. Most state flags were designed and adopted between 1893 and World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

According to a 2001 survey by the North American Vexillological Association

North American Vexillological Association

The North American Vexillological Association is a membership organization devoted to "vexillology as the scientific study of flags." Flag researchers, designers, collectors, activists, merchants, and other enthusiasts from the United States and Canada meet annually at NAVA meetings in order to...

, New Mexico has the best-designed flag of any U.S. state, U.S. territory, or Canadian province, while Georgia's 2001–2003 state flag was rated the worst design.

Current state flags

Years in parentheses denote the year the flag was adopted by the state's legislature.

Current state ensigns

Maine and Massachusetts have ensigns differing from the state flag for use at sea.

Civil War

Previous state flags

Texas Revolution

Other

See also

• Flags of the Governors of the U.S. States
• Lists of U.S. state insignia
• Flags of the Confederate States of America
  Flags of the Confederate States of America
  There were only three flag designs adopted, with later, minor variants made to those designs, that served as the official national flags of the Confederate States of America and used during its existence from 1861 to 1865...
  
  
• Flags of the United States
  Flags of the United States
  -Historical progression of designs:Since 1818, a star for each new state has been added to the flag on the Fourth of July immediately following each state's admission...
  
  (including commonwealth, territory, and federal district flags)