The Ohio State Flag
by Jerry Murphy
The Ohio Flag was first publicly displayed in 1901 at the Ohio
Building of the Buffalo Pan American Exposition. It had no legal
status, however, until the following year. A bill authorizing and
describing the flag became law May 9, 1902. Following is the
essential text of the act:
"The flag of the State of Ohio shall be pennant shaped. It
shall have three red and two white stripes; the union of the flag
shall be seventeen five pointed stars, white, in a blue triangular
field, the base of which shall be the staff end or vertical edge of
the flag, and the apex of which shall be the center of the middle
red stripe. The stars shall be grouped around a red disc superimposed
upon a white circular "O". . . . The proportional dimensions of the
flag and its various parts shall be according to the official design
thereof on file in the offices of the Secretary of State."
The thirteen stars grouped about the circle represent the
thirteen original states; the group of four stars indicates those
added, including Ohio, at the time of the state's admission into
the Union. The white circular "O" is the initial letter of the
name of the state.
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