Catalog

Year Adopted: 1917.

The area that is now Wyoming was acquired by the United States with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The name "Wyoming" is derived from the Wyoming Valley in northeastern Pennsylvania. The Wyoming Territory was formed from sections of the Dakota, Utah, and Idaho territories and incorporated in 1868. The territorial government was established in May of 1869. The first territorial governor, John A. Campbell was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant and took office April 15, 1869. Wyoming was admitted to the Union in 1890 as the 44th state.

The Wyoming state flag consists of the Great Seal of Wyoming centered on white buffalo silhouette facing the flag hoist, within a blue field surrounded by an inner white border and outer red border. The borders, field and seal are described in Wyoming statute 8.3.102 as follows: the red border width shall be one-twentieth (1/20) of the length of the flag; next to the border shall be a stripe of white on the four sides of the field, which shall be in width one-fortieth (1/40) of the length of the flag. The remainder of the flag shall be a blue field, in the center of which shall be a white silhouetted buffalo, the length of which shall be one-half of the length of the blue field; the other measurements of the buffalo shall be in proportion to its length. On the ribs of the buffalo shall be the great seal of the state of Wyoming in blue. The seal shall be in diameter one-fifth the length of the flag. The Great Seal of the State of Wyoming was adopted in 1893 and revised in 1921. (ref; soswy.state.wy.us)

The symbolism of the flag; on the bison, once the monarch of the plains, is the seal representing the custom of branding. The colors of the State Flag are the same as those of the National Flag. The red border represents the Indian; also, the blood of the pioneers who gave their lives reclaiming the soil. White is the emblem of purity and uprightness over Wyoming. Blue, the color of the sky and mountains, is symbolic of fidelity, justice and virility. The Wyoming State Flag, was designed by Mrs. A.C. Keyes of Casper (formerly Miss Verna Keays of Buffalo), was adopted by the fourteenth legislature on January 31, 1917. (ref; wyoming.gov, wyohistory.org)