John Purcell holding up an odd misprint
of the Ohio State flag that
requires some assembly with scissors
of the Ohio State flag that
requires some assembly with scissors
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The final presentation was given by John Purcell, a former NAVA president and primary author of American City Flags - 150 Flags from Akron to Yonkers. Purcell's presentation was entitled Colors and Controversy: The Flags of Our 50 States - How Our States Got Flags and Why It Took So Long.
Purcell gave us an overview of the how the fifty states got their flags. For a good majority it was mostly due to need. At functions where state representatives met, in all sorts of events from athletic, social and political - the various delegations often needed a state flag to represent their group.
However each state flag has its own particular story. Some flags were not created for a caucus need, but rather for state pride and or historical reason.
I asked Purcell which state flag reflects the design of the US State flag the best? Before Purcell could respond several people volunteered an answer - 'Ohio, Texas, and Georgia.' But Purcell's choice of which state flag looks most like the federal flag was, "Hawaii."
An open question? - Which US State flag looks most like the US national flag? Ohio, Texas, Georgia, or Hawaii? Post your answers here!
TEXAS
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Two big red and white stripes, Texas trumps the flag of North Carolina since NC has dates and letters on it.
HAWAII
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Hawaii's basic design is like the US flag with a canton and stripes. But no stars and blue stripes? And a British Flag!
GEORGIA
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13 Stars like the Betsy Ross design, and three big stripes. However its the design of the first Confederate Flag.
OHIO
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Stars and stripes! but the shape is wrong and there is a red dot with a white circle around it?