The flag of the state of Iowa consists of three vertical stripes of blue, white, and red, reflecting Iowa's history as part of the French French Louisiana Territory. (Because of the wider middle stripe and symmetric design, the design is sometimes classified as a "Canadian pale".) The image of a bald eagle with a long ribbon reading "Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain", taken from the Seal of Iowa, is centered in the middle white stripe. The word "Iowa" is placed directly below it in red, serifed and in upper case.
The flag was adopted in 1921; it was first approved in May 1917, by the Iowa State Council for Defense. It was designed in 1917, by Knoxville, Iowa, resident Mrs. Dixie Cornell Gebhardt, of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Iowa.
Proposals for a New Flag of Iowa
Shown below are designs that have been proposed for a new flag of Iowa.
IA Proposed Flag "FlagFreak"
IA Flag Proposal "Lord Grattan"
IA Flag Proposal "VoronX"
IA Proposed Flag "GrandWesternEmperor 1"
IA Proposed Flag "GrandWesternEmperor 2"
IA Proposed Flag "GrandWesternEmperor 3"
IA Proposed Flag "GrandWesternEmperor 4"
IA Proposed Flag "GrandWesternEmperor 5"
IA Proposed Flag "FederalRepublic"
IA Flag Proposal "Jack Expo"
IA Flag Proposal "Tibbetts"
IA Flag Proposal "Hawkeye - by Usacelt"
IA Flag Proposal by Kermitdefrog
Iowa State Flag Proposal No. 1 By: Stephen Richard Barlow 05 OCT 2014 at 0758hrs cst
Iowa State Flag Proposal No. 2 By: Stephen Richard Barlow 05 OCT 2014 at 0838hrs cst
Iowa State Flag Proposal No. 5 By: Stephen Richard Barlow 05 OCT 2014 at 1107hrs cst
IA Flag Proposal "Ben Karnell 1"
IA Flag Proposal "Ben Karnell 3"
IA Flag Proposal "Ben Karnell 4"
Iowa flag proposal by Ben Karnell, modified by Hans. Sep 2015. (details)
IA Flag Proposal "BigRed618"
Iowa State Flag Proposal No. 6 Designed By: Stephen Richard Barlow 07 OCT 2014 at 1154hrs cst
Iowa State Flag Symplistic Proposal. The only state with rivers on both sides, represented by the stripes. The two stars stand in for the two parts of Iowa’s motto: “Our Liberties We Prize, and Our Rights We Will Maintain.” By Ed Mitchell. 2013.
Faded Original Iowa Flag, by Wcaden13
21st Century Iowa Flag, by Wcaden13
Iowa flag
IA flag proposal "5thEye"
Serratted division to stand for the state rock of Geode which has a crystaline interior. Color set as per French National flag.Design by Rotten Ali.
Iowa flag proposed by Ken Morton. This flag turns the French "Tricolour" on a 45 degree angle; the intent here is to reference the clipped parallelogram-like shape of the state of Iowa. The text and eagle, present on the current state flag, are eliminated for reasons of aesthetics and simplicity.
My second design for an Iowa state flag - Posted by Ken Morton
A state, bordered by two rivers, with the golden circle in the center representing the sun and the corn harvest. By Dmitri McDonald, 2018.
A simplified and markedly more french take on the Iowan flag
Proposal "less is more" for a flag for Iowa, taking off all letters and symbols of the current flag. The only drawback to this is that the flag looks a lot like the French flag. By Qaz Dec 2019 (details)
Proposal "we have our own flag now" for a flag for Iowa. Dividing the flag in five equal bands of blue, white, red, white and blue makes it look less like a copy of the French flag, while still being related. By Qaz Dec 2019 (details)