US and West Virginia Flags on Our Flagpole

West Virginia – The Mountain State

As of 2017, the coal industry accounted for 2 percent of state employment.

West Virginia Coal
West Virginia Coal

West Virginia coal exports declined 40% in 2013 – a loss of $2.9 billion and overall total exports declined 26%.  West Virginia ranked last in the Gallup Economic Index for the fourth year running.  West Virginia ranked last or next-to-last in critical indicators such as Workforce Education, Entrepreneurial Activity, High-Tech Jobs, and Scientists and Engineers.

Nearly all of the electricity generated in West Virginia is from coal-fired power plants.  West Virginia produces a surplus of electricity and leads the Nation in net interstate electricity exports.  Farming is also practiced in West Virginia, but on a limited basis because of the mountainous terrain over much of the state.

Employment:

The 10 largest private employers in West Virginia, as of March 2011, were:

  1. Walmart
  2. West Virginia United Health System
  3. Charleston Area Medical Center
  4. Kroger
  5. Consol Energy
  6. Mylan Pharmaceuticals
  7. Lowe’s
  8. Mary’s Medical Center
  9. American Electric Power
  10. The Mentor Network

Transportation:

Highways form the backbone of transportation systems in West Virginia, with over 37,300 miles of public roads in the state.

West Virginia is crossed by six interstate highways: I-64, I-77, I-68, I-79, I-70, and I-81.

Charleston WV Airport
Charleston WV Airport

Commercial air travel is facilitated by airports in Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown, Beckley, Lewisburg, Clarksburg, and Parkersburg.  All but Charleston and Huntington are subsidized by the US Department of Transportation’s Essential Air Service program.

Flag of West Virginia:

Design:

The current state flag of West Virginia consists of a pure white field bordered on four sides by a stripe of blue.  The white of the field symbolizes purity, while the blue border represents the Union.  The center of the state flag is emblazoned with the state’s Coat of Arms, a stylized version of the Great Seal of West Virginia.  The lower half of the state flag is wreathed by two tethered swags of Rhododendron maximum, the state flower of West Virginia.  Across the top of the state flag is an unfurled red ribbon with the constitutional designation “State of West Virginia”, and across the bottom of the state flag is a tied red ribbon with the state’s Latin motto Montani Semper Liberi (“mountaineers are always free”).

Current Flag of West Virginia
Current Flag of West Virginia

The state’s coat of arms in the center of the flag symbolizes the principal pursuits and resources of West Virginia.  In the center is an ivy-draped boulder that has been inscribed “June 20, 1863,” the date of West Virginia’s admission to the Union as a state.  In front of the boulder lie two crossed hunting rifles and a Phrygian cap (or “Cap of Liberty”) to illustrate the importance of the state’s fight for liberty.  Two men, a farmer and a miner, stand on either side of the boulder and represent agriculture and industry.  The farmer stands on the left with an ax and plow before a cornstalk.  The miner stands on the right with a pickax and, behind him, an anvil and sledge hammer.

Scroll to Top