Flag of Arkansas

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Flag of Arkansas

The flag of the U.S. state of Arkansas consists of a diamond on a red field, representing Arkansas' diamond mines (Arkansas was the first state where diamonds were mined naturally). The twenty five white stars around the border of the diamond represents Arkansas' position as the 25th state to join the union; the star inside the diamond and above "ARKANSAS" is for the Confederate States of America. The three stars below "ARKANSAS" have three different meanings: The nations to which Arkansas has belonged (Spain, France, and the United States); the year in which the Louisiana Purchase occurred (1803); and Arkansas being the third state (after Louisiana and Missouri) formed from the Louisiana Purchase.

The flag was designed by Willie Kavanaugh Hocker of Wabbaseka, Arkansas. Around 1911, the Pine Bluff, Arkansas chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) wished to present a state flag for the commissioning of the battleship USS Arkansas. Since Arkansas did not have a state flag at the time, the DAR held a competition for flag designs. Hocker, a member of the Pine Bluff DAR chapter, won with a design similar to the present, except without "ARKANSAS" and with only three stars (the ones now below "ARKANSAS") in a horizontal line across the center. The judging committee of the DAR added the state name and placed one star above the name and two below. This flag was adopted by the legislature on February 26, 1913.

In 1923, the legislature added a fourth star, representing the Confederate States of America. This fourth star was originally placed so that there were two stars above the state name and two below; this was to include the Confederacy alongside Spain, France, and the United States. Since this disturbed the other two meanings of the original three stars, the legislature corrected this in 1924 by placing the Confederate star above "ARKANSAS" and the original three stars below it, as it is today.

The 1924 resolution, reenacted as a full act of the legislature in 1987, states that the two stars immediately below "ARKANSAS" are parallel to commemorate the dual admission of Arkansas and Michigan to the Union on June 15, 1836. However, this has two factual errors: Though both states' acts of admission were adopted on that date (thus they are indeed twin states) and Arkansas did join the Union then, Michigan was required to cede the Toledo Strip to Ohio first, thus delaying its admission until January 26, 1837; also, Hocker's original design had three parallel stars in the center, not two. The two stars Hocker intended to honor Arkansas and Michigan as twin states are more than likely those in the far left and right points of the 25-star border, as stated by some sources.

Some believe that the flag bears a resemblance to the Confederate Battle Flag. Though the colors and star pattern are similar, the flag does not have the saltire pattern of the Confederate Flag. In addition, the history of the flag clearly shows that it was not considered to honor the Confederacy until the fourth star was added for that specific purpose in 1923.