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Washington, D.C., formally known as District of Columbia, is the capital district of the United States of America; it's the headquarters of federal Executive, Legislative and Judiciary branches. Under exclusive jurisdiction of United States Congress, it doesn't belong to any US state.

The District of Columbia was formed in 1790 with lands donated by Maryland and Virginia, but Virginia's cession was returned in 1846.

Current flag

George Washington COA

Coat of arms of George Washington.

The current flag, whose author is Charles A.R. Dunn, was adopted in 1938, in a public competition. It consists in a rectangular version of the coat of arms (a banner of arms) of George Washington, the Independence War hero and first president of United States of America, for whom the city of Washington, D.C. was named.

According to law text:

"The proportions of the design are prescribed in terms of the hoist, or vertical height, of the flag as follows: the upper white portion shall be 3/10 of the hoist; the two horizontal bars are each 2/10 of the hoist; the white area between the bars 1/10 of the hoist; and the base, or lowest white space, is 2/10 of the hoist. The three five-pointed stars have a diameter of 2/10 of the hoist and are spaced equidistant in the fly, or horizontal, dimension of the flag."

Historical flags

Before 1938, the District of Columbia didn't have an official flag, so, when needed, an unofficial banner was flown, usually the D.C. Army National Guard flag. In 1917, the National Geographic Magazine reported a flag supposedly used as unofficial flags of District of Columbis; it constained a hammer and the writing "HEADQUARTERS" and "DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA". According to the same magazine, in 1937, the flag was replaced by one with the DC crest: the Capitol in front of a flaming sun and same writing.

Only in 1938 an official flag was chosen, in a public competition. The winner entry, by Charles A.R. Dunn, is still the official D.C. flag. The first time Dunn proposed the flag was in 1921.

In July 2002, the D.C. Council approved a change in district flag, by 10-2 vote (and one absence), in protest in favor of DC statehood. The referred proposal included the "DC" writing in central star, and the text "TAXATION WITHOUT" in superior red bar and "REPRESENTATION" in inferior one. However, the bill never was signed by the then-mayor nor the successors.


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