33°. Wisconsin's State flag was officially 

 adopted in 1913. The law provides that it shall 

 be of dark blue silk, five feet six inches fly and 

 four feet four inches on the pike ; the State 

 coat-of-arms is embroidered on each side in 

 silk of appropriate color and design, and the 

 edges of the flag are trimmed with knotted 

 fringe of yellow silk two and one-half inches 

 wide. The pike is nine feet long, including the 

 spearhead and ferrule; the cord eight feet six 

 inches long, with two tassels composed of blue 

 and white silk strands intermixed. Service 

 flags may be of bunting or other material, of 

 such size as may be required, and the coat-of- 

 arms may be represented otherwise than by 

 embroidery. 



331. California in 191 1 adopted what is 

 popularly known in the State's history as the 

 "Bear Flag," as the official ensign of the "Gol- 

 den Gate'' Commonwealth. The law provides 

 that the Bear Flag shall consist of a white 

 field, with a red stripe at the bottom one-sixth 

 as wide as the field. In the upper left-hand 

 corner of the field is a single red star, and at 

 the bottom of the white field the words "Cali- 

 fornia Republic." Above these words appears 

 a California grizzly bear upon a grass plat, in 

 the position of walking toward the left of the 

 field. The bear is dark brown in color and in 

 length equal to one-third the length of the 

 flag. The Bear Flag dates from the days of 

 the California pioneers and commemorates the 

 biggest bear known to science, the California 

 grizzly, now extinct. 



332. Minnesota adopted her State flag at 

 the same time that she provided for a State 

 flower. The ground is of white silk and the 

 reverse side of blue silk, bordered with bullion 

 fringe. In the center is the State seal wreathed 

 with white moccasin flowers and a blue ground. 

 The red ribbon of the seal, bearing the motto, 

 "Iy'Etoile du Nord" (Star of the North), is 

 continued through the wreath entwining the 

 blossoms and fluttering over the lower portion 

 of the flag. The seal bears in gold 1819 and 

 1893, the dates, respectively, of settlement and 

 of the adoption of the flag; also, in variegated 

 gold, is the date 1858, the time of the admis- 

 sion of Minnesota into the Union. Below, in 

 gold letters, is wrought "Minnesota." Grouped 

 around the seal are nineteen stars, so arranged 

 that they appear to form the points of a five- 

 pointed star, of which the seal itself is the 

 central portion. Four of the points are made 

 up of four stars each; the fifth point, at the 

 top, is made up of three stars, one of them 

 larger than the others, typifying the North 

 Star and representing the "North Star State." 

 The choice of the number nineteen was made 

 because Minnesota was the nineteenth State 

 after the original thirteen admitted to the 

 Union. The standard of the flag is surmount- 

 ed by a gold gopher and tied with a gold cord 

 and tassel. 



333- Oregon followed the example of a 

 majority of her sister States in devising her 

 flag by making the field blue with a fringe of 

 gold. The size of the flag is five feet six inches 

 fly and four feet four inches on pike. The 

 yellow fringe is four inches deep and the cord 

 and tassel are blue and white silk intermixed. 

 The length of the pike is ten feet, including 



the spearhead. The arms of the State are em- 

 broidered or painted in the center with the 

 number and arm of the service of the regiment 

 underneath where it is used as a regimental 

 flag. The arms consist of an inseription sup- 

 ported by 32 stars, the number of States in 

 the Union at the time Oregon was admitted, 

 and divided by an ordinary with the inscrip- 

 tion, "The Union." Above this inscription is 

 an elk with branching antlers, a wagon, Pacific 

 Ocean, a British man-of-war departing, and an 

 American steamer arriving. Below the inscrip- 

 tion is a sheaf, a plow, and a pick-axe. The 

 national shield forms the crest. The figures 

 1859 proclaim the date of the admission of 

 Oregon into the Union. 



334. Kansas is another State which, ac- 

 cording to the most careful research, has not 

 officially adopted a flag. The military officials, 

 therefore, have provided a blue flag upon which 

 is centered the coat-of-arms of the State. Ag- 

 riculture is represented by the plowman in the 

 foreground, commerce by ,the river and steam- 

 boat in the background. Above the plowman 

 is a wagon train westward bound, following- 

 the course of empire. A herd of buffalo is 

 seen retreating, pursued by two Indians on 

 horseback. Around the top is the motto, "Ad 

 astra per aspera (To the stars through diffi- 

 culties). Underneath the motto is a cluster of 

 thirty-four stars, representing the States in the 

 Union at the time of the admission of Kansas. 



335- West Virginia.— The St. Louis World's 

 Fair was responsible for. the adoption of West 

 Virginia's State flag. The West Virginia State 

 Commission at that exposition found it neces- 

 sary to adopt a flag and special design to dis- 

 tinguish West Virginia from other States of 

 the Union represented. Therefore, it under- 

 took the task of designing a flag itself. The 

 following year the legislature ratified this de- 

 sign, amending it only by the addition of a 

 fringe or border of gold or orange. The law 

 provides that the proportions of the flag shall 

 be the same as those of the United States ban- 

 ner; that the field shall be pure white, upon 

 the center of which, on the obverse side, shall 

 be the great seal of coat-of-arms of the State, 

 with the motto, "Montani Semper Liberi" 

 (Mountaineers always freemen), and beneath 

 that, in a scroll, the legend, "State of West 

 Virginia." On the reverse side of the flag ap- 

 pears a sprig or sprigs of rhododendron maxi- 

 mum, or big laurel, the State flower, having a 

 blossom and leaves. The field of pure white 

 is bordered by a strip of blue, and this in turn 

 by a strip or fringe of old gold. The flag of 

 the State is to be employed on all occasions 

 where a special display of the State's individ- 

 uality shall become necessary or be regarded as 

 appropriate. 



336. Nevada has had several State flag 

 laws, but the one now in force dates from 

 1915. The flag it authorizes consists of a blue 

 field, in the center of which is placed the great 

 seal of the State of Nevada as designed in 

 1912. The seal is given a scroll border, and 

 the words "The Great Seal of the State of 

 Nevada" are omitted. Immediately above the 

 seal is the word "Nevada" in silver-colored, 

 block Roman capital letters. Immediately be- 

 low the seal, and in the form of a scroll, are 



336 



