Composition
The Kentucky flag features a field of navy charged with the seal of the commonwealth, centered.
Kentucky
The flag of Kentucky follows a common pattern for U.S. state flags, featuring the seal on a field of blue.
The seal was designed in 1793 by Lexington silversmith David Humphries and placed within the flag design by Jesse Cox Burgess, an art teacher in Frankfort.
The flag was officially adopted March 26, 1918.
Iconography
goldenrod
state flower, regional flora
handshake
pioneers, statesmen, united we stand
Note: The two men are often mistaken for Daniel Boone and Henry Clay.
motto
unity
Note: Historians believe this motto was inspired by “The Liberty Song,” written by John Dickinson in 1768.
Coat of Arms
The coat of arms, along with early versions of the state seal, depicted the two men as statesmen, both in swallowtail coats.
Alternate versions show the men shaking hands and in other versions in full embrace.
Colors
The official colors of the seal are blue and gold, reflected also on the state flag.
Kentucky statute does not provide Cable or Pantone values for the colors of the flag.The hex values here are approximations.
Navy
#000066
White
#ffffff
Gold
#e6ad05
Green
#396f4a
Construction
The fly of the flag must be 1 and 9/10 the width of the hoist.
The seal should be 2/3 the width of the hoist.
Pike
A pike (flagpole) flying the flag should be surmounted by the Kentucky cardinal “in an alert but restful pose, cast in bronze, brass, or other suitable material.”
Sources
- Howe, Randy. Flags of the Fifty States: Their Colorful Histories and Significance. Guilford: The Globe Pequot Press, 2002. Print.
- Mitchell, Henry. The State Arms of the Union. Boston: L. Prang & Co, 1876.
- Kentucky Revised Statutes Title I. Sovereignty and Jurisdiction of the Commonwealth § 2.030. State flag
- Encyclopedia Britannica
- Flag of Kentucky - Wikipedia