Catalog

Year Adopted: 1877.

"The flag of the state shall be white, bearing on each side in the center a gold anchor, twenty-two inches high, and underneath it a blue ribbon twenty-four inches long and five inches wide, or in these proportions, with the motto "Hope" in golden letters thereon, the whole surrounded by thirteen golden stars in a circle." The Rhode Island General Assembly first adopted a Seal for the colony containing an anchor with the word "Hope" above it on May 4, 1664. There is no official documentation from the time when Rhode Island first adopted the word "Hope" on its Seal and flag that explains why this word was chosen. The arms of the state, adopted in 1882, are a golden anchor on a blue field, and the motto thereof is the word "Hope". The smallest state of the union, Rhode Island, also has the longest official name of any of the states: "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations". The state was named by Dutch explorer Adrian Block. He named it "Roodt Eylandt" meaning "red island" in reference to the red clay that lined the shore. (ref; ri.gov, Facts, History)

Rhode Island became the first colony to renounce allegiance to King George III in May 1776. Ten weeks later, on July 18, the Assembly ratified the Declaration of Independence. In 1778 the state had quickly ratified the Articles of Confederation, with its weak central government, but when the movement to strengthen that government developed in the mid-1780's, Rhode Island balked. The first election, which was boycotted by the supporters of stronger union (called Federalists), rejected the Constitution by a vote of 2,708 to 237. In mid-January 1790, more than eight months after George Washington's inauguration as first president of the United States, the Country party reluctantly called the required convention, but it took two separate sessions. The ratification tally -- thirty-four in favor and thirty-two opposed -- was the narrowest of any state, and a favorable result was obtained only because four Antifederalists either absented themselves or abstained from voting. Rhode Island was the last of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution. (ref; state.ri.us, sos.ri.gov, Library, Rhode Island History)