Admitted to the Union on November 11, 1889, Washington was a little slow about officially adopting a state flag specification. But, once

LARGE FLAG     COLOR ME FLAG

 the territory became a part of the United States, there seems to have been little doubt that a state flag would honor George Washington in some way.

At the beginning of the 20th century, many towns and cities throughout the state informally adopted a military flag that displayed a gold profile of our first President on blue bunting. Other flags in use simply centered the state seal on a field of purple or green similar to the current design.

When an official Washington State Flag was finally adopted on May 5, 1923, the legislature described the flag as

"...of dark green silk or bunting and shall bear in its center a reproduction of the seal of the state of Washington..."

Originally, the law allowed that the flag to might be edged with either gold or green fringe. This was changed in 1925 to specify a gold or yellow color of "the same shade as the seal."

The specifications for the flag were amended in 2005 to reflect "textile industry standards." Today's specification calls for Cable Color (Textile) Spanish Yellow 100%68 or Pantone PMS DS-5-4 for both the state seal gold and the gold fringe, if any

Purchase Washington State Flags