Kansas Flag

A Kansas Portrait

Prior to assuming the governorship in 1915, Arthur Capper expressed an interest in adopting a state flag for Kansas. The Daughters of the American Revolution sponsored a contest for a flag design that would "express the spirit of Kansas." The winner, Lawrence artist Esther Estelle Northrup, suggested a flag with three broad stripes--the top one red, the middle one white, and the lower one blue. In the upper left was a gold sunflower on a blue background with the state seal in its center. This design was submitted to the state legislature in, 1917, but was not accepted.

Leading opposition to a state flag were the Native Daughters of Kansas and the Grand Army of the Republic. Both groups felt that the national ensign, "Old Glory," was good enough for the state. Patriotic interests remained in conflict and Kansas continued to be one of the few states without its own flag.

Though numerous designs for a state flag were submitted to the legislature in the ensuing years, not until 1925 was a state banner adopted. Designed to be hung from a horizontal bar, the banner contained familiar elements-the state seal framed in a sunflower centered in a blue field.

State Adjutant General Milton R. McLean found the new banner to be an unacceptable substitute for a state flag. Not only was it impossible to march with, but the banner was also rejected for display with the flags of other states in Washington. Consequently, on March 21st, 1927, an act was signed "designating the form and color" of an official state flag. Basic elements of the design were the state seal centered in a field of blue. Above the seal was the generally unknown state crest--an insignia designated by the U.S. war department in 1923 and consisting of a sunflower beneath which was a bar or wreath meant to symbolize the Louisiana Purchase. Legislation in 1961 added the word "Kansas" to the bottom of the flag and required its display in schools of the state.

The Kansas flag was quickly embraced by residents and patriotic organizations alike. Mrs. O.C. Emery of Wichita has attributed meaning to elements of the flag which may not have originally been intended but which reflect the patriotic spirit the flag elicits. She wrote that "its blue stands for the loyalty and steadfastness of the people of Kansas. The azure, pink and yellow of the seal symbolizes our cosmopolitanism and the melting pot of statehood which has from the contributions of many lands and commonwealths produced a contented, harmonious citizenry, while the open frankness of its sunflower face is indicative of the fearlessness with which Kansas meets her problems and solves them."