Composition
The Washington D.C. flag features a field of white.
The chief is charged with three red five-pointed stars, evenly spaced. Below, two red horizontal stripes extend the full length of the flag.
Washington D.C.
In 1924, the Daughters of the American Revolution introduced a bill to establish a District Flag Commission to create and select a flag.
That year, artist Charles A. R. Dunn submitted a design based on the Washington family coat of arms. It took 14 years (and many other design options) before this flag was officially adopted October 15, 1938.
Because of this delay, the flag’s design was for years attributed to Melvin C. Hazen and Arthur E. Du Bois who both sat on the Commission.
It wasn’t until 1957 that Dunn published an article titled The Origins of the District of Columbia Flag and reclaimed his place within the flag’s history.
Iconography
The current design of the Washington family coat of arms dates back to 14th century England.
When Charles Dunn began his design, he took inspiration from Maryland and their flag, featuring the coats of arms from the Calvert and Crossland families.
Choosing George Washington’s family coat of arms seemed fitting.
Colors
The D.C. flag features two colors: red and white.
D.C. statute does not provide Cable or Pantone values for the red.The hex value here is approximate.
Red
#e81b39
White
#ffffff
Construction
The D.C. flag is usually produced with a 1:2 proportion, but statute only specifies proportion of the visual elements relative to the hoist.
The chief (top white stripe) should be 3/10 the width of the hoist with each star measuring 2/10 the hoist and spaced evenly within the chief.
The red stripes and the base (bottom white stripe) should be 2/10 the hoist and the space between the red stripes should be 1/10.
