Flag of the State of Idaho

The flag of the state of Idaho was adopted on November 2, 1957. The flag is rectangular with a blue background. The seal of the state of Idaho appears in the center of the flag. Below the seal, a red banner with gold trim appears with the text “STATE OF IDAHO.”

Although the Idaho state flag was not adopted until the second half of the twentieth century, the first Idaho state banner was flown in the Philippines during the Spanish American War in 1898. Just before the First Idaho Volunteer Infantry deployed for the Philippines in 1898, a group of Idaho women presented the first Idaho state flag, which was made by skilled needle-worker in Chicago.

The first flag of Idaho was very similar to the current state flag, containing a blue background and the Idaho state seal in the center. Unlike the current version of the flag, the state seal on the original flag did not include the gold circular border with the text “Great Seal of the State of Idaho” written inside the border. Instead of the text “STATE OF IDAHO” in the red banner at the bottom, the text “1^st Idaho Volunteers” appeared on the original flag.

The seal that appears in the center of the Idaho state flag was adopted in 1863 and modified several times before Idaho became an official state in 1890. The seal contains a gold circular border with the text “Great Seal of the State of Idaho” and a white star, representing Idaho as a new light among the U.S. states. Inside the border, a woman representing justice and a Miner, representing Idaho’s chief 19^th-century industry are depicted in the foreground. Other images, including those in the seal’s inner shield, contain many images significant to the state of Idaho. These images include a man plowing a field, a pine tree, two cornucopias, the state flower, wheat, and an elk. The Latin text Esto perpetua, or “It is forever,” also appears at the top of the seal.