Iowa

3×5' nylon state flag of Iowa.

Iowa's flag remembers that the state was once French. Its blue, white and red echo the tricolor of France, which held the land until the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.

Design

Three vertical bands of blue, white and red. In the white center band, a bald eagle carries a blue streamer in its beak with the motto "Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain," above the word IOWA in red.

History & Symbolism

The flag was designed by Dixie Cornell Gebhardt of Knoxville, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, during World War I, when Iowa's troops had no state banner. It was adopted by the legislature in 1921. Blue stands for loyalty, justice and truth; white for purity; and red for courage.

Flag Specifications

• Adopted: 1921
• Colors: blue, white, red
• Emblem: eagle with the state motto

Vexillographer's Note

Without its eagle, Iowa's flag would be a French tricolor. The eagle and its streamer are drawn from the state seal.

Humphrys Flag Company · Old City Philadelphia · Est. 1864