The flag consists of a gold torch that represents liberty and enlightenment; the rays around the torch represent their far-reaching influence. The nineteen stars represent Indiana’s place as the nineteenth state to join the United States. The thirteen stars in the outer loop symbolize the original Thirteen Colonies, the five inner stars represent the next five states added to the Union, and the one large star above the torch represents Indiana.
The flag of Louisiana consists of a “pelican in her piety,” the heraldic charge representing a mother pelican “in her nest feeding her young with her blood, on an azure field with the state motto reworded to “Union Justice Confidence.” This version of the flag was first adopted in 1912 and it was last modified in 2006.
According to vexillologist Whitney Smith, the uniquely shaped Ohio flag may be loosely based upon cavalry flags of the Civil War and Spanish–American War. The flag has been officially defined as a “burgee” since 2002, even though burgees are typically used as maritime flags. Its shape, lack of text, and mirror symmetry allow it to be flown or hung in various orientations without affecting legibility. On account of the flag’s uncommon shape, foreign manufacturers have occasionally set the entire design against a white, rectangular field.
The flag of the state of Tennessee consists of an emblem on a field of red, with a strip of blue on the fly. The emblem in the middle consists of three stars on a blue circle.
The three stars represent the three Grand Divisions of the state, East Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, and West Tennessee. The blue circle around the stars represents the unity of the “Grand Divisions” of the state. The blue bar at the edge of the flag was just a design consideration. When asked about the blue bar, Reeves stated that “The final blue bar relieves the sameness of the crimson field and prevents the flag from showing too much crimson when hanging limp.”
The flag consists of the Commonwealth’s seal on a navy blue field, surrounded by the words “Commonwealth of Kentucky” above and sprigs of goldenrod, the state flower, below. The seal depicts a pioneer and a statesman embracing. Popular belief claims that the buckskin-clad man on the left is Daniel Boone, who was largely responsible for the exploration of Kentucky, and the man in the suit on the right is Henry Clay, Kentucky’s most famous statesman. However, the official explanation is that the men represent all frontiersmen and statesmen, rather than any specific persons. The state motto: “United We Stand, Divided We Fall” circles them. The motto comes from the lyrics of “The Liberty Song”, a patriotic song from the American Revolution.
Multiple versions of the flag have been included throughout history. Originally, the flag was the same as the flag of the Green Mountain Boys. It was then changed to look similar to the flag of the United States, consisting of red and white stripes, and a blue canton. It was changed to be dissimilar to avoid confusion. Proposals have been brought up to revert the flag back to the Green Mountain Boys’ flag, but none have succeeded.
There is no record today of a design for an official Vermont Flag prior to 1804, although Ira Allen’s design—common to both the Great Seal of Vermont and the coat of arms of Vermont—dates to 1778. While an official government flag might not have existed prior to 1804, the Vermont militia—known as the Green Mountain Boys—was formed in 1770, and remaining accounts record use of the Flag of the Green Mountain Boys as far back as 1777.
Rhode Island’s tradition of independence and dissent gave it a prominent role in the American Revolution. Rhode Island was the first of the thirteen colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown on May 4, 1776. It was also the last of the thirteen colonies to ratify the United States Constitution on May 29, 1790, once assurances were made that a Bill of Rights would become part of the Constitution.
That the flag of North Carolina shall consist of a blue union, containing in the center thereof a white star with the letter “N” in gilt on the left and the letter “C” in gilt on the right of said star, the circle containing the same to be one-third the width of the union. The fly of the flag shall consist of two equally proportioned bars; the upper bar to be red, the lower bar to be white; that the length of the bars horizontally shall be equal to the perpendicular length of the union, and the total length of the flag shall be one-third more than its width. That above the star in the center of the union there shall be a gilt scroll in semi-circular form, containing in black letters this inscription “May 20th 1775,” and that below the star there shall be a similar scroll containing in black letters the inscription: “April 12th 1776”. It bears the dates of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence (May 20, 1775) and of the Halifax Resolves (April 12, 1776), documents that place North Carolina at the forefront of the American independence movement. Both dates also appear on the Great Seal of North Carolina.
The flag of the state of New York is the coat of arms on a solid blue background. The state seal of New York is the coat of arms surrounded by the words “The Great Seal of the State of New York.” The legislature changed the field of the flag from buff to blue by a law enacted on April 2, 1901.[2]
The shield displays a masted ship and a sloop on the Hudson River (symbols of inland and foreign commerce), bordered by a grassy shore and a mountain range in the background with the sun rising behind it.
The shield has two supporters:
Left: Liberty, with the Revolutionary imagery of a Phrygian cap raised on a pole. Her left foot treads upon a crown that represents freedom from the British monarchy that once ruled what is now New York as a colony.
Right: Justice, wearing a blindfold (representing impartiality) and holding scales (representing fairness) and a sword.
A banner below the shield shows the motto Excelsior, a Latin word commonly translated as “Ever Upward.”
The shield is surmounted by a crest consisting of an eagle surmounting a world globe.
Several European expeditions, including a group of Spanish Jesuits, explored the Chesapeake Bay during the 16th century. In 1583, Queen Elizabeth I of England granted Walter Raleigh a charter to plant a colony north of Spanish Florida. In 1584, Raleigh sent an expedition to the Atlantic coast of North America. The name “Virginia” may have been suggested then by Raleigh or Elizabeth, perhaps noting her status as the “Virgin Queen.” Initially the name applied to the entire coastal region from South Carolina to Maine, plus the island of Bermuda. Later, subsequent royal charters modified the Colony’s boundaries. The London Company was incorporated as a joint stock company by the proprietary Charter of 1606, which granted land rights to this area. The company financed the first permanent English settlement in the “New World”, Jamestown. Named for King James I, it was founded in May 1607. With the bankruptcy of the London Company in 1624, the settlement was taken into royal authority as an English crown colony.