Flag of Michigan
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| Use | Civil and state flag |
|---|---|
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | June 26, 1911 |
| Design | Coat of arms of Michigan on a blue field |
Variant flag of Michigan
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| Name | Flag of the Governor of Michigan |
| Adopted | August. 1, 1911 |
| Design | Coat of arms of Michigan on a white field |
The flag of the state of Michigan depicts the state's coat of arms on a dark blue field, as set forth by Michigan state law. (The Governor has a variant of the flag with a white instead of blue field.)
The state coat of arms depicts a light blue shield, upon which the sun rises over a lake and peninsula, and a man with a raised hand representing peace and holding a long gun representing the fight for state and nation as a frontier state.
As supporters, the elk and moose are derived from the Hudson's Bay Company coat of arms, and depict great animals of Michigan. The bald eagle represents the United States which formed the State of Michigan from the Northwest Territory.
The design features three Latin mottos. From top-to-bottom they are:
The present flag, adopted in 1911, is the third state flag. The first flag featured a portrait of Michigan's first governor, Stevens T. Mason, on one side and the state coat of arms and "a soldier and a lady" on the other side. The first flag is completely lost, and no images of it exist, as far as anyone knows. The second flag, adopted in 1865, displayed the state coat of arms on one side and the United States coat of arms on the other.
In November 2016, a bill was introduced in the Michigan state legislature by Michigan State Senator Steven Bieda that would change the current state flag. If the bill is passed, the current state flag will be discontinued in January 2019 and replaced with a new design.
Michigan's pledge of allegiance to the state flag was written by Harold G. Coburn and was officially adopted as Public Act 165 of 1972.
The North American Vexillological Association (NAVA), in its 2001 survey of U.S. state, US Territory and Canadian provincial flags rated the current Michigan flag 59th out of 72 flags evaluated; it was given an average score of just 3.46 out of a possible 10 points.
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