Iowa Flag

The Iowa state flag is a basic tricolor with en emblem on top. The tricolor consists of three vertical stripes in the colors blue, white and red. Blue is located nearest to the flagpole. The colors on the flag are meant to represent Iowa’s history as a French Louisiana Territory. The white stripe in the Iowa flag is wider then the two outer stripes red and blue. This fact sometimes gave the Iowa flag the nickname of “Canadian pale”.

The white center stripe displays proudly a bald eagle. The eagle with its wings spread wide holds a ribbon in his beak. The long ribbon displays the words ”Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain”. These words also appear on the state seal of Iowa. The ribbon is basically centered in the middle of the white stripe. In red color the word Iowa is centered right below the ribbon. The state flag of Iowa was designed by Mrs. Dixie Debhardt in 1917. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. This flag was a result of a design competition held by the Daughters of the American revolution and by sheer luck one of their members was the winner with all those eligible and very good other designs that were submitted. The flag was accepted first in 1917 and then adopted in 1921 as the Iowa state flag. This was 75 years after Iowa's entry into the United States. Iowa never really longed for a state flag, since after fighting in the Civil war, Iowans felt that the United States flag, “the stars and stripes” was the proper representation for all Americans and a separate state flag was not needed.

As with so many state flags, the Iowa state flag also started its course in history as a regiment/military banner. The state flag of Iowa is proudly displayed in the capital of Iowa, Des Moines.

Pictures of the Iowa flag can be found online or with the official pages of the state of Iowa. The history of the Iowa flag as well as the other facts about he flag of Iowa can also be found on the official state pages or with the state government of Iowa. Another good source for Iowa flag pictures are history books and museums, especially museums in Iowa. For educational purposes and just for fun, Iowa state flag coloring pages exist and can be found in stores or as a free download from the Internet.