Flags Of The Fifty States – Randy Howe (1)

During the six-month celebration more than 27 million people visited. Considered a tribute to Columbus’s voyage 400 years before, the fair’s official name was “The World’s Columbian Exposition.” The flag is a field of white with the state seal in the center. The seal is an impressively patriotic portrait: a bald eagle stands upon a rock on a prairie field, the sun emitting glorious rays in the background.

Hanging from the bald eagle’s beak is a scroll that reads “State Sovereignty, National Union,” the official state motto and a reference to Illinois’s independence from, and coexistence with, the U.S. government. Federalism was a crucial concept for the states that first agreed to join the Union. British soldiers had been on American soil just four years before Illinois was granted statehood, and citizens wanted to make sure that the federal government did not hold too much power. They did not want their president to be a king.

Autonomy and cooperation are the themes of Illinois’s motto. There are two dates on the bald eagle’s perch: “1818,” the year Illinois became a state, and “1868,” the year the state seal became official. Just as the bald eagle is a patriotic symbol, so too is the shield that the bird holds in its talons. Illinois’s General Assembly acknowledged the original colonies- turned-states as thirteen stars and thirteen stripes decorate the shield. The state seal has not escaped controversy, and its story has become a bit of local folklore.

During the Civil War, Illinois Secretary of State Sharon Tyndale wanted to change the order of the wording on the banner to read “National Union, State Sovereignty.” Upset about the secession of southern states, Tyndale wished to stress that the United States is a nation, as opposed to highlighting the sovereign status each state enjoys. In most of the states, the secretary of state is the official keeper of the state’s flag and seal, but he or she cannot make changes to it without the agreement of the state legislature.

The Illinois General Assembly denied Tyndale’s request, but he got the last word.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Howe, Randy author Title: Flags of the fifty states : their colorful histories and significance / Randy Howe.

Description: Third edition. | Essex, Connecticut : Lyons Press, [2026] | Revised edition of : Flags of the fifty states and their incredible histories / Randy Howe, 2002 | Summary: “Flags of the Fifty States is an illustrated panorama of the states of the union as seen through their flags. Updated with the new Minnesota, Mississippi, and Utah state flags, this book is a great resource and an easy way to absorb some of America’s fascinating history”—Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2025049539 (print) | LCCN 2025049540 (ebook) | ISBN 9781493090433 paperback | ISBN 9781493097173 epub Subjects: LCSH: Flags—United States—States—History | BISAC: HISTORY / United States / General | HISTORY / Historical Geography Classification: LCC CR113.2 .H69 2026 (print) | LCC CR113.2 (ebook) LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2025049539 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2025049540 Printed in India OceanofPDF.com CONTENTS Cover Title Dedication Copyright CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction Delaware Pennsylvania New Jersey Georgia Connecticut Massachusetts Maryland South Carolina New Hampshire Virginia New York North Carolina Rhode Island Vermont Kentucky Tennessee Ohio Louisiana Indiana Mississippi Illinois Alabama Maine Missouri Arkansas Michigan Florida Texas Iowa Wisconsin California Minnesota Oregon Kansas West Virginia Nevada Nebraska Colorado North Dakota South Dakota Montana Washington Idaho Wyoming Utah Oklahoma New Mexico Arizona Alaska Hawaii OceanofPDF.com ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, a big shout-out to the editors that guided me through each edition of this book, Rick Rinehart, Holly Rubino, and Tom McCarthy.

I was greatly aided in my research by Dr. Peter “The Flagman” Orenski, Ted Kaye, and the .govs; historical societies; and vexillologists of each of the fifty states. To them I offer my thanks. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention the staff at the E. C. Scranton Memorial Library.

This wonderful place is located in a town named after James Madison, who, before becoming our fourth president, was one of the architects of the U.S. system of federalism.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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• Title: –
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• ISBN: 9781493090433, 9781493097173
• Pages: 268
• Language: English (en)

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