Ohio State Flag

The Ohio state flag is the official government flag of the state of Ohio. A blue triangle extends from the left edge. Three red and two white horizontal stripes fill the remaining space.

Architect John Eisenmann created the design in 1901. He needed a flag to fly over the Ohio Building at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. State Representative William S. McKinnon introduced legislation to adopt the design. Ohio lawmakers approved it on May 9, 1902.

The flag uses a swallowtail burgee shape. It stands as the only non-rectangular state flag in the United States. Seventeen white stars surround a white circle with a red center on the blue triangle.

The Ohio state flag meaning connects to the state's landscape and position in the Union. Each element represents a specific feature of Ohio's geography or history.

The burgee shape suggests Ohio's hills and valleys. The stripes stand for the state's roads and waterways. The white circle with its red center forms the letter O for Ohio and represents the buckeye nut from the state tree, linking directly to Ohio buckeye symbolism.

Seventeen stars mark Ohio as the seventeenth state admitted to the Union. Thirteen stars represent the original colonies. Four additional stars stand for Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio.

Ohio operated without an official state flag for nearly a century after statehood in 1803. In 1860, military leaders proposed a flag featuring the state seal on a white field. James A. Garfield spoke against the proposal in 1861. He argued that Ohio soldiers should march under the national flag only. The plan was dropped.

Cleveland architect John Eisenmann received a commission in 1901 to design the Ohio Building for the Pan-American Exposition. He created a distinctive burgee to fly at each corner of the building. The wool flags represented the Ohio Pan-American Exposition Commission rather than the state itself.

Eisenmann obtained a U.S. design patent for his flag in July 1901. He described it as a triangular swallowtail flag similar to a cavalry guidon. State Representative William S. McKinnon introduced House Bill 213 in 1902 to adopt Eisenmann's design as the official state flag. Governor George K. Nash signed the bill into law on May 9, 1902, reinforcing themes later visible in the Buckeye State nickname.

The press initially compared Ohio's flag to foreign designs. Some noted similarities to the Cuban or Philippine flags. Others criticized the red and white circles as resembling the Japanese flag. The design gained popularity slowly. By the early 1900s, only Governor Nash displayed the flag regularly.

The Ohio state flag uses red, white, and blue. These colors match those on the U.S. national flag. The Ohio Secretary of State provides specific Cable and Pantone values for each color, and broader palette comparisons appear in the U.S. state colors guide.

Blue forms the triangular field on the left. Red appears in the central disc and three horizontal stripes. White fills two stripes and the circle surrounding the red disc, while modern population context is available in U.S. states by population.