{{short description|U.S. state flag}} {{Use American English|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox flag | Name = State of Oregon | Image = Flag of Oregon.svg | Imagetext = | Nickname = | Use = 110000 | Symbol = {{FIAV|110000}}{{FIAV|normal}}{{FIAV|twosided}} | Proportion = 2:3 | Adoption = {{start date and age|1925|02|26}} | Design = (Obverse) A state seal in gold on a navy blue field. Above the seal the text "State of Oregon" is displayed in a wavy flow and "1859" at the bottom of the state seal. | Designer = Oregon Legislature; first sewn by Marjorie Kennedy and Blanche Cox. | Image2 = File:Flag of Oregon (reverse).svg | Symbol2 = {{FIAV|110000}}{{IFIS|reverse}} | Use2 = 110000 | Proportion2 = 3:5 | Design2 = (Reverse) A gold figure of a beaver, the state animal (The hoist is to the right.) }} The '''flag of Oregon''' is a two-sided flag in navy blue and gold with an optional gold fringe. On the front is the escutcheon from the state seal, and on the reverse is a gold figure of a beaver, the state animal. Oregon is the only U.S. state to feature different designs on either side of its flag.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/oregon/state-flag/flag-oregon|title=Oregon State Flag|website=State Symbols USA|access-date=May 7, 2024|quote=The Oregon state flag was adopted in 1925 and is the only U.S. state flag that displays different images on front and back.}}</ref>
==Statute== The 2023 Oregon Revised Statutes, Volume 5, Chapter 186, § 186.010, defines that the state flag shall: {{blockquote|text= ...bear on one side on a navy blue field the state escutcheon in gold, supported by 33 gold stars and bearing above the escutcheon the words "State of Oregon" in gold and below the escutcheon the figures "1859" in gold, and on the other side on a navy blue field a representation of the beaver in gold.<ref name="OR-186.010">{{cite web |title=OR Rev Stat § 186.010 (2023): State flag; official colors |url=https://law.justia.com/codes/oregon/volume-05/chapter-186/section-186-010/ |website=Justia |publisher=Justia |access-date=4 January 2026}}</ref> }}
===Design of the escutcheon=== The design of the escutcheon is described through the law defining the state seal (OR Rev Stat § 186.010), which provides the following description:<ref name="OR-186.020">{{cite web |title=OR Rev Stat § 186.020 (2023): Description of state seal |url=https://law.justia.com/codes/oregon/volume-05/chapter-186/section-186-020/ |website=Justia |publisher=Justia |access-date=4 January 2026}}</ref>{{blockquote|text= '''Shield:''' ...divided by an ordinary, with the inscription, "The Union." In chief – mountains, an elk with branching antlers, a wagon, the Pacific Ocean, on which there are a British man-of-war departing and an American steamer arriving. The second – quartering with a sheaf, plow and a pickax.
'''Crest:''' The American eagle.}}
==Design and symbolism== The navy blue flag field with lettering and symbols in gold, represents the state colors of Oregon.<ref name=obb>{{cite web|url=https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/Pages/facts/almanac/d-h.aspx|title=Oregon Almanac:Flag, State|access-date=2008-05-05|publisher=Oregon Blue Book}}</ref><ref name=Shearer>{{cite book|last=Shearer|first=B.F|author2=Shearer, B.S|year=2002|title=State Names, Seals, Flags, and Symbols: A Historical Guide|edition=Third|publisher=Greenwood Press|page=67|isbn=0-313-31534-5}}</ref> The 33 stars surrounding the shield represents Oregon's admission to the Union as the 33rd state. Below the shield is written ''1859'', the year in which Oregon became a state.<ref name=obb/>
Oregon's flag is the last remaining state flag in the U.S. in which the obverse and reverse sides have different designs.<ref name=mw/> Paraguay<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9103970/Oregon-flag-of Oregon, flag of]. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved on May 6, 2008.</ref> is the only country that still has a two-sided flag. Two-sided flags were previously more common, but have been reduced due to increased costs of manufacturing a flag with two different designs.<ref name=mw/> On the reverse of the flag is a depiction, also in gold, of a beaver, the state animal of Oregon.<ref name=obb/>
For dress or parade use, the flag may feature a gold fringe. For standard use, no fringe is required.<ref name=obb/> The ratio of the flag's width to its length is 3:5.<ref name=fotw2>{{cite web|url=http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-or.html|title=Oregon Flag|publisher=Flags of the World|access-date=2008-05-05}}</ref>
It is one of nine U.S. state flags to feature an eagle, alongside those of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming.
==History==
{{multiple image | align = right | direction = vertical | header = | image1 = Oregon State Exposition flag 1915.jpg | width1 = 200 | caption1 = Oregon's 1915 Exposition banner (obverse) | image2 = Oregon State Exposition flag 1915 (reverse).jpg | width2 = 200 | caption2 = (reverse) }}
Flags similar to the official flag have been in use since as early as 1888.<ref name=DEAD/>
The first mention of a state flag was in 1915. The flag was described in Ben W. Olcott's Blue Book.<ref>[https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn85042399/1915-08-02/ed-1/seq-2/#words=flag+seal+state ''Ashland tidings'', August 02, 1915, p.2]</ref>
A banner was used to represent the state during the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in 1915. The front of the banner had a white background with the state seal in the center. The word "OREGON" was placed above the seal and the words "Exposition 1915" were placed below the seal. The backside contained the American flag.<ref>{{Cite web |title=San Francisco Call 15 March 1912 — California Digital Newspaper Collection |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19120315.2.2&srpos=3340&e=-------en--20--3321--txt-txIN-State+flag+banner+------- |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=cdnc.ucr.edu}}</ref>
thumb|left|200px|A flag depicted in National Geographic, 1917{{FIAV|historical}}
A 1917 issue of ''National Geographic Magazine'' on U.S. state flags featured a state flag with a blue background, in the center is a multi-colored state seal on a white oval disc.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Society (U.S.) |first=National Geographic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=22s9AAAAYAAJ |title=Our Flag Number: With 1197 Flags in Full Colors and 300 Additional Illustrations in Black and White |last2=McCandless |first2=Byron |date=1917 |publisher=National Geographic Society |language=en}}</ref>
On April 18, 1920, the National society of daughters of the American revolution was holding a convention in Washington D.C. with representatives from the state being sent. The delegates carried with them a state flag that made from funds raised by the local chapters in the state. The flag was described as being 3 x 5 feet, having a blue field with the state seal in the center and a yellow stripe running around the border of the flag.<ref>[https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn85042444/1920-04-23/ed-1/seq-13/#words=flag+seal+state ''The Oregon daily journal'', April 23, 1920, p.13]</ref>
In September of 1920, members of American legion used a state flag that bore a white field with a golden state seal in the center.<ref>[https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1920-09-03/ed-1/seq-7/#words=flags+FLAGS+HISTORIC+historic Morning Oregonian, September 03, 1920, Page 7]</ref>
===Current flag (1925–present)=== thumb|Presentation of the state flag at unknown event, July 7, 1925.
The current flag of Oregon was officially adopted on February 26, 1925.<ref name="mw">{{cite dictionary|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/nytmaps.pl?oregon|title=Geography|dictionary=Merriam-Webster|access-date=2008-05-05}}</ref> What is believed to be the first officially produced flag of Oregon was made that year by Meier & Frank, sewn by Marjorie Kennedy and Blanche Cox, employees of the department store.<ref name="first flag">{{cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2010/09/oregons_first_flag_will_be_moved_to_a_public_display_at_eastern_oregon_university.html|title=Oregon's first flag will be moved to a public display at Eastern Oregon University|agency=The Associated Press|date=September 6, 2010|work=The Oregonian|access-date=8 September 2010}}</ref> That flag was donated to Eastern Oregon University in 1954 by the grandson of former governor Walter M. Pierce.<ref name="first flag" /> In 2010, the flag was restored.<ref name="first flag" />
Early copies of the Oregon state flag sometimes used a multi-colored state seal rather than an all-gold state seal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156000094265051&id=393240485050&set=a.10150144979040051|title=Oregon’s first state flag|publisher=Eastern Oregon University|date=August 31, 2015|access-date=May 31, 2025}}</ref>
In 1926, a veterans organization was given a unique state flag. This flag was the same as the normal state flag except it had the organization's name in place of the state name, and the backside depicted the United Spanish War Veterans seal instead of a beaver.<ref>[https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn85042470/1926-08-19/ed-1/seq-1/#words=flags+regimental ''The Oregon statesman'', August 19, 1926, p. 1]</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery class="center" heights="140px" widths="180"> File:Flags-of-usa-and-oregon.jpg|The flags of the United States and Oregon in Portland, Oregon File:With flags flying (6100256919).jpg|The Oregon flag flying above Fremont Bridge in Portland File:Oregon Guardsmen help distribute medical supplies (49775222251).jpg|Oregon Guardsmen with the state flag File:Oregon Bicentennial 13c 1976 issue.jpg|The Oregon state flag as depicted in the 1976 bicentennial postage stamp series </gallery>
==Proposed change== thumb|Jean-Claude Muller's proposed flag (1976) As part of the United States Bicentennial in 1976, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art held a nationwide contest for new flags for American states, cities and other entities. A panel of judges selected 25 of the best designs to be displayed at various exhibitions around the United States. Among the selected designs was a proposed flag for Oregon, designed by Jean-Claude Muller. It consisted of a pattern of nine green triangles against a background of three vertical stripes of blue-white-blue, symbolising the forest, the ocean and the lakes of the state. Although it was hoped that the winning designs might be considered for adoption by their respective entities, no flags from this contest were ever officially adopted.<ref>{{cite book |year=1976 |title="New Glory": A Flag History and Design Project for the American Revolution Bicentennial Part II: New Designs for Flags |page=12 |publisher=Santa Barbara Museum of Art |location=Santa Barbara, California |oclc=1022565103 |url=https://assets.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_2456_300062494.pdf |via=Museum of Modern Art |accessdate=March 1, 2025}}</ref>
In anticipation of the Oregon Sesquicentennial in 2009, ''The Oregonian'' organized a statewide contest in 2008 to redesign the state flag.<ref name="flagcontest">{{cite news |url= http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon/index.ssf/2008/12/redesign_the_oregon_flag.html |title= Redesign the Oregon flag |work= The Oregonian |access-date= June 16, 2010 |date= December 11, 2008}}</ref> The newspaper collected and published the entries with the public voting on the winning design. The winning design was created by Randall Gray, a map maker for Clackamas County. In his design, Gray emphasized the beaver found on the current flag's reverse. The star represents Oregon's place in the Union while the green represents the natural wilderness and forests of Oregon.<ref name="flagcontest"/> After the contest had started with votes being cast, there were requests for the ''Oregonian'' to add an 11th option, "NONE OF THE ABOVE", meaning, keep the current state flag as it is. In the final tally of votes, "NONE" received the most votes.
'''Finalists''' <gallery> Flag of Oregon proposal (Gerald H. Black).svg|Flag A{{dash}}Designed by Gerald H. Black Flag of Oregon proposal (Eddy Lyons).svg|Flag B{{dash}}Designed by Eddy Lyons Flag of Oregon proposal (Douglas Lynch).svg|Flag C{{dash}}Designed by Douglas Lynch Flag of Oregon proposal (Jaymes Walker).svg|Flag D{{dash}}Designed by Jaymes Walker Flag of Oregon proposal (John Mothershead).svg|Flag E{{dash}}Designed by John Mothershead Flag of Oregon proposal (T.J. Borzner).svg|Flag F{{dash}}Designed by T.J. Borzner Flag of Oregon proposal (Randall Gray).svg|Flag G{{dash}}Designed by Randall Gray Flag of Oregon proposal (Lorraine Bushek).svg|Flag H{{dash}}Designed by Lorraine Bushek Flag of Oregon proposal (Karen L. Azinger).svg|Flag I{{dash}}Designed by Karen L. Azinger Flag of Oregon proposal (Thomas Lincoln).svg|Flag J{{dash}}Designed by Thomas Lincoln </gallery>
In 2013, a bill was introduced to the Oregon Senate that would have made several changes to the flag design; however, the bill never made it out of committee.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2013R1/Measures/Text/SB473?BillFileId=56566 |title=Oregon Senate Bill 473 |access-date=February 8, 2013}}</ref> This bill was sponsored by state Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson, on behalf of Gresham resident Matt Norquist, who lobbied for the flag's change.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.neworegonflag.org/ |title=www.neworegonflag.org |access-date=November 25, 2013 |archive-date=October 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031172158/http://www.neworegonflag.org/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> thumb|Matt Norquist's proposed flag (2013)
The bill describes the proposed design as follows: {{cquote|The flag shall feature a vertical bicolor split with a navy blue field at the hoist and a gold field at the fly. In the canton the flag shall bear a representation of the beaver, in gold, facing the hoist. On the fly the flag shall bear a vertical stripe in navy blue, and a white star shall be centered at the vertical halfway point of the stripe. The obverse and reverse of the flag shall be mirror images of each other.}} {{clr}}
==Militia flags== In 1839, Thomas J. Farnham, the leader of the Oregon Dragoons, had his wife make a flag for them. The flag was described as a large American flag with the motto "Oregon or the grave."<ref name=":0">The Story of California & her flags to color, Vol. 2, p.15</ref>
In 1888, Adjutant-General of the Oregon state guard ordered 3 regimental flags,<ref>[https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn96061150/1888-05-17/ed-1/seq-3/#words=flags+regimental ''The daily morning Astorian'', May 17, 1888, p.3]</ref> with one of them having been given to Company F.<ref>[https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn84022644/1888-06-01/ed-1/seq-3/#words=flag+presentation ''The state rights democrat'', June 01, 1888]</ref> The flags were described as "made of blue silk, with the seal of Oregon, in the center". They costed $250 ($8,459.61 today) each to make.<ref name=DEAD>[https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn96088445/1888-05-30/ed-1/seq-3/#words=flag+presentation ''Daily Evening Albany Democrat'', May 30, 1888, p.3]</ref> [[File:Regimental_Colors_of_the_2nd_Oregon_Infantry_(1906).png|thumb|Regimental colors of the 2nd Oregon Infantry, 1906<ref>[https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1906-05-31/ed-1/seq-10/#words=battle+flags Morning Oregonian, May 31, 1906, p.10]</ref>]] In 1895, 3 flags were given to the 2nd Oregon infantry regiment. One of them had a blue field with the coat of arms and the name of the regiment in the middle. The whole thing measured 6 x 6 feet.<ref>[https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn96088106/1895-11-22/ed-1/seq-4/#words=flag+Flags+flags+regiment+regimental Daily Eugene guard, November 22, 1895, p.4]</ref>
In 1908, two flags were produced by order from the American Consul-General in Shanghai, China. The flags were to be sent to China for use by the Shanghai Volunteer Corps. One flag was the American flag, and the other was a regimental banner that was described as "5 1/2 feet by 4 1/2 feet... The arms of the state of Oregon are done in oil upon blue silk field.” According to the ''Morning Oregonian'', this flag design was the same as the regimental flags used by the state Guard.<ref>[https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1909-10-22/ed-1/seq-15/#words=flag+regimental ''Morning Oregonian'', October 22, 1909, p.15]</ref>
In January 1918, the University of Oregon had constructed a unique flag for their ROTC. It was described as "Yellow silk...10 feet by 4 feet, with an Oregon state seal appliquéd in the center. A border of Oregon grape... embroidered around the edge, and heavy gold fringe…”<ref>[https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/2004260238/1918-01-31/ed-1/seq-1/#words=flag+regimental ''Oregon emerald'', January 31, 1918]</ref> In 1929 the University ordered a new flag for the organization. The flag contained a blue field with the state's seal in the center with a gold scroll underneath. In the scroll was the inscription: "Reserve Officers Training Corps." The flag measured 5 feet by 4 feet.<ref>[https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/2004260239/1929-05-17/ed-1/seq-1/#words=flags+regiment ''Oregon daily emerald'', May 17, 1929. p1]</ref>
<gallery widths="190" heights="220"> File:Thomas J. Farnham's 1839 expedition flag.png|Oregon Dragoons flag, 1839<ref name=":0" /> File:3rd Oregon Infantry Regiment flag (1916).png|Digital reconstruction of the flag carried by the 3rd Oregon Infantry Regiment, 1916 File:Multnomah Guard Battalion flag (1918).png|Digital reconstruction of Multnomah Guard Battalion flag, 1918<ref>[https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn85042444/1918-04-06/ed-1/seq-2/#words=flag+regimental The Oregon daily journal, April 06, 1918, Page 2]</ref> </gallery>
==See also== {{Portal|Oregon}} *Seal of Oregon *List of Oregon state symbols *Flags whose reverse differs from the obverse
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070311194726/http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/186.html Chapter 186 — State Emblems; State Boundary] 2005 Oregon Revised Statutes
{{US state flags}} {{Oregon}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oregon, Flag of}} Category:United States state flags Flag Category:Flags of Oregon Category:Flags displaying animals Category:Blue and yellow flags Category:Flags with stars Category:Flags displaying a sun