The flag of the state of Kansas was adopted by the Kansas State Legislature on May 21, 1927. The flag features a blue background with the Great Seal of the State of Kansas in the center. The Kansas state crest is appears above the seal and the state’s name is printed in block letters below the seal.
The Great Seal of the State of Kansas was adopted on May 25, 1861 and tells the story of Kansas’s development. A farmer, two horses and a plow, and a cabin are depicted in the seal’s foreground, reflecting the importance of agriculture in Kansas’s economy, society, and history. The journey many Americans made to Kansas from the American east during the nineteenth century is depicted behind the agricultural scene with a train of oxen and wagons moving westward. Kansas’s Native American population is represented in the background of the seal with two Native Americans hunting buffalo on horseback. A river and a steamboat are also pictured in the seal’s background, representing Kansas’s participation in interstate commerce. The state’s motto, Ad astra per aspera, or “through hardships to the stars,” is written at the top of the seal in Latin. The Kansas state seal also includes thirty four stars, representing Kansas’s admission to the Union as the thirty-fourth state on January 29, 1861. Around the entire scene are the words, “Great Seal of the State of Kansas, January 29, 1861.”
Kansas’s state crest is featured at the top of the flag and consists of a sunflower resting on top of a gold and blue bag. The flower is Kansas’s state flower and also symbolizes fearlessness and openness. The blue and gold bar represents the Louisiana Purchase, of which the area that is now Kansas was a part.
The Kansas State Flag was flown for the first time in 1927 at Fort Riley to honor the troops stationed at Fort Riley and the Kansas National Guard.
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