Move Afoot To Redesign PA State Flag

HARRISBURG, PA — A state lawmaker wants to redesign Pennsylvania's more than century-old official state flag.

State Rep. Joe Webster, a Montgomery County Democrat, plans to introduce legislation that would establish the Pennsylvania State Flag Commission. The panel would study the history of the state flag, solicit design submissions for a new flag and recommend changes to the flag.

"Can you identify the Pennsylvania flag from all the other state flags?" Webster asked in a memo to colleagues seeking support for his upcoming bill. "Many would struggle as the Pennsylvania state flag is one of many state flags that features a seal on a blue background."

The blue state flag features the state coat of arms. The ship, plow and sheaves of wheat in the coat of arms are drawn from the colonial-era crests of three Pennsylvania counties, according to the pacapitol.com website. At the bottom is the motto “Virtue, Liberty and Independence.”

The General Assembly authorized the first state flag bearing the coat of arms in 1799. During the Civil War, many Pennsylvania regiments carried flags modeled after the United States flag, but substituted Pennsylvania’s coat of arms for the field of stars.

In 1907, the Legislature passed a law standardizing the flag and requiring that the blue field match the blue of Old Glory.

According to Webster, the North American Vexillological Association outlines five principles of a good flag,which are to keep it simple, use meaningful symbolism, use two or three basic colors, avoid lettering or seals and be distinctive or be related.

"The Pennsylvania state flag does not embrace these principles," he wrote. Pennsylvania's flag should be recognizable and functional as a symbol of the Commonwealth, and it should stand out from other states while utilizing good flag principles."