Composition
The Washington flag features a field of green charged with the state seal, centered.
Washington
The Washington flag was designed in 1914 by the Daughters of the American Revolution, who put together a flag committee led by Emma Chadwick.
They placed the state seal, a portrait of George Washington designed by brothers Charles and George Talcott, on a field of green.
It took many years, but the flag was officially adopted March 5, 1923.
It has seen one major update in 1967 when artist Richard Nelms updated the state seal, modeled after Gilbert Stuart’s famous portrait of Washington.
Iconography
The portrait of George Washington honors the first U.S. President from which the state gets its name.
The seal almost featured Mount Rainier. In 1889, Charles Talcott, a local jeweler, was tapped to design the seal. Wanting something simple, he sketched a double circle and pasted a George Washington postage stamp inside.
This idea was approved and Washington has been on the seal ever since.
Colors
The colors of the flag are defined by the Secretary of State, first standardized in 1955.
Values corresponding to imagery:Green: field
Gold: border of seal
Blue: background of seal
Flesh: George Washington’s face
White: Washington’s hair and shirt
Black: Washington’s coat, shadows, borders, lettering
Green
#00843d
Cable No. 80210 Irish Green
PMS DS-268-1
Gold
#ffcd00
Cable No. 80068 Spanish Yellow
PMS DS-5-4
Blue
#05c3de
Cable No. 80176 Oriental Blue
PMS DS-226-3
Flesh
#fdd6c6
Cable No. 80004 Eggshell
PMS DS-5-9
White
#ffffff
Pantone White
Black
#000000
Pantone Black
Construction
The Washington flag can be produced with a variety of dimensions, specifically 3 feet by 5 feet, 4 feet by 6 feet, and 5 feet by 8 feet.
For these sizes, the seal must be 19 inches, 25 inches, and 31 inches, respectively.
All other sizes of the flag must keep a proportion of 1:1.6 and the seal will be 1/3 the length of the fly.
Previous iteration
The first Washington state flag featured a previous iteration of the state seal, designed by Charles and George Talcott. This version flew from 1923–1967.
Sources
- Howe, Randy. Flags of the Fifty States: Their Colorful Histories and Significance. Guilford: The Globe Pequot Press, 2002. Print.
- Revised Code of Washington. Title 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS. Chapter 120 - GENERAL PROVISIONS. Section 1.20.010 - State flag.
- Washington Secretary of State
- Flag of Washington - Wikipedia