Iowa State Flag

The Iowa state flag is the official state flag of Iowa. Three vertical stripes of blue, white, and red cover the field. The blue stripe sits nearest the staff. The white stripe occupies the center and is twice as wide as the other stripes, and the design is included on the list of U.S. state flags.

A bald eagle with spread wings appears on the white stripe. The eagle carries blue streamers in its beak. The state motto Our Liberties We Prize and Our Rights We Will Maintain appears in white letters on the streamers. The word Iowa appears in red letters below the streamers.

The Iowa state flag represents the state's French territorial history and American identity. The vertical tricolor design resembles the French flag, honoring Iowa's time as French territory. The eagle represents the United States and Iowa's place in the Union, and this framing is reinforced in Iowa's nickname narrative.

The colors carry specific meanings assigned by designer Dixie Cornell Gebhardt. Blue represents loyalty, justice, and truth. White stands for purity. Red symbolizes courage. The state motto on the streamers reflects Iowa's admission as a free state.

Iowa became the 29th state on December 28, 1846. The state had no official flag for its first 75 years. Calls for national unity during and after the Civil War discouraged state flags. Iowa fought for the Union during the war, and this period is also mapped in states and capital cities reference data.

The first request for a state flag came in 1909 from Iowa National Guardsmen. They made another request in 1910. In Fort Dodge, members of the military advisory board designed a flag and sent it to the Legislature. The design was not adopted because it was considered inadequate.

World War I renewed requests for a state flag. The Iowa Daughters of the American Revolution took up the cause. Iowa National Guardsmen positioned along the Mexican border requested a flag, noting other states had flags to represent themselves. In 1917, Iowa was one of three states without a flag.

Dixie Cornell Gebhardt, a DAR member from Knoxville, designed the flag. She was prompted to create the design by Iowa guardsmen. The DAR flag committee approved it in early May 1917. The Iowa State Council for Defense accepted it on May 11, 1917.

Governor William Lloyd Harding formally accepted the flag on March 19, 1918. Legislative action on adoption failed in February 1919. The Iowa Daughters met with legislators again in September 1920, urging them to accept the flag. In January 1921, Iowa legislators deliberated on adoption. By mid-March 1921, the flag was accepted as law.

The Iowa state flag uses blue, white, and red from the French flag. Dixie Cornell Gebhardt assigned symbolic meanings to each color. Iowa statute does not provide exact Cable or Pantone values.