Arizona Flag on Our Flagpole

Arizona – The Grand Canyon State

Flag of Arizona
Flag of Arizona

The height of the flag is two units high while the width is three units wide.  The sun rays at the top are divided into 13 equal segments, starting with red and alternating with gold until the rays are complete.  In the center of the flag, the copper star is one unit high, while the rest of the flag is covered by blue section measuring one unit high and three units wide.  The colors of red and blue are the same shade used on the flag of the United States.  The specific colors of copper and gold have not been set down in law. The suggested flag size is four by six feet, with the star being two feet tall.

Charles Wilfred Harris, Colonel in the Arizona National Guard, served as the captain of the unit’s rifle team in 1910.  During the rifle competition at Camp Perry, Ohio, the Arizona team was the only team without an emblem of any kind.  Colonel Harris was chiefly responsible for the creation of the rifle team flag that in 1917 became the Arizona State Flag.  Blue and gold are the colors of Arizona.  Red and gold are the colors carried by Coronado’s Expedition of 1540 to the Seven Cities of Cibola.

Coronado Expedition
Coronado Expedition

The blue is “liberty blue” identical to the color in the United States flag field of stars.  Since Arizona is a western state, the rays of the setting sun seemed appropriate.  There are thirteen rays representing the original “thirteen colonies”.  The large copper star identifies Arizona as the largest producer of copper in the United States.  “On February 27, 1917, the legislature passed the bill to adopt this flag as the official Arizona State Flag despite dissenting votes and Governor Campbell’s refusal to affix his signature to the bill.”  The governor did not officially state his reasons for taking no action on the bill.

In a 2001 poll conducted by the North American Vexillological Association, the Arizona flag was identified as one of the “10 best flags on the continent,” ranking sixth of 72 North American flags for overall design quality.

State Nickname:

Arizona’s nickname is The Grand Canyon State.

Arizona State Quarter
Arizona State Quarter

Most of the canyon lies within the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.  The Grand Canyon is unmatched throughout the world for the vistas it offers to visitors on the rim.  The Grand Canyon attracts about five million visitors per year.

Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon was formed by the uplifting of the Colorado plateau and erosion caused by the Colorado River over a period of 6 million years.  It is 277 miles long, ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles, and attains a depth of more than a mile.  Nearly two billion years of the Earth’s history can be observed in the layers of exposed rock.

Prehistoric Native Americans built settlements within the canyon and its many caves.  The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon a holy site and made pilgrimages to it.

Scroll to Top