Happy Mother's Day, 2011

Mothers Day Flag
Mother & Daughter Jarvis

In honor of Mothers Day, here is a Mother's Day flag. Mother's Day took its form under the guidance of Ann Marie Jarvis and her mother Ann Maria Jarvis.

In order to distinguish the founders of Mother's Day it will be a bit easier to refer to them as Daughter Marie and Mother Maria.

Mother Maria was born in Virginia when it was still united with West Virginia 1832 in Culpeper County. Culpeper county is also vexillologically famous for Culpeper County Minute Men Flag from the US Revolution of 1776.

Culpeper Minute Men Flag 1775
Clupeper County later became a
birthplace of Mother's Day due to US Civil War
under the leadership of the Jarvis Family

Daughter Marie was born in West Virginia a year after it had broken away from Mother Virginia on May 1, 1864. West Virginia officially separated from the older eastern Virginia on June 20, 1863.

Likewise Virginia is considered to be the 'Mother State' of the United States, since Virginia is the oldest. The American Dream, at least in English started in Virginia, without interruption.


History books also call Virginia the Mother of Presidents since many of the early and founding father presidents of were born there: Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Tyler, Taylor, Wilson, and of course the grandest of all - Washington.

In honor of this privileged position I have created a Mother's Day Flag that combines the state flags of Virginia and West Virginia, since both states coincidentally gave birth to the founders of Mother's Day - as it is in the USA. The blue border and cross wreath are taken from West Virginia, while the inner head wreath is from the current flag of Virginia. In the center are portraits of the Jarvises - Mom Jarvis on the right and Daughter Jarvis on the left.

Mother Maria Jarvis organized women to help injured men on both sides of the US Civil War and became a pacifist. She like many other women and men thought a day to honor motherhood would help reconcile the tragedies of Civil War.

West VA Flag with Mother's Day Founder

Mother Maria Jarvis never lived to see Mother's Day officially adopted. But Daughter Marie Jarvis did, in 1914 under the last US President born in "Unbroken Virginia" - President Wilson.