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In
1863 Wisconsin had not yet adopted an official
state flag and the Civil War regiments in the
field were requesting an official banner to fly.
The legislature formed a five-member joint
select committee to respond to these requests
and, as a result 1863 Joint Resolution 4 was
adopted. This resolution essentially adopted a
design that was already in use by the Wisconsin
regimental troops.
In 1913,
this resolution finally made it into the
official state statutes of the state of
Wisconsin. Chapter 111, Laws of 1913 specifying
a dark blue flag with the state coat of arms
centered on each side, evolved into Chapter 1,
section 1.08 of the Wisconsin statutes.
As with
other states who chose to display the state coat
of arms or seal on the official state flag,
Wisconsin found that their flag was difficult to
distinguish from others. After years of effort
to distinguish the Wisconsin flag in some more
noticeable way, the enactment of Chapter 286,
Laws of 1979 responded with the addition of the
word "WISCONSIN" in white letters above the
state coat of arms and the date that Wisconsin
was admitted to the union, "1848" in white
letters below the state coat of arms.
If you
want more information on the State Flags of the
United States, you might want to check
How Proudly They Wave: Flags of the Fifty
States by Rita D. Haban. This book is
geared toward kids... and for adults like me who
want to know about the history and design
significance of the flags of all fifty states
but can't find this information in an expensive
encyclopedia. |
Official State Flag of Wisconsin
