Montana

Montana
Country	United States
Flag of Montana
Adopted	1 July 1981
Score in 2001 NAVA survey	3.00/10 (70th of 72)
Wikipedia article
Flags of the World article

For other uses, see Montana (disambiguation).

Montana is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States.

Description

The flag of the state of Montana consists of the image of the Montana state seal centered on a blue field with the text 'MONTANA' in yellow above the seal.

Seal of Montana

The image of the seal depicts a landscape of mountains, plains and forests by the Great Falls on the Missouri River. A plow, a pick and a shovel are depicted on the front, representing the state's agricultural and mining industries. The banner at the bottom of the seal reads the territorial motto of Oro y Plata, meaning "Gold and Silver" in Spanish.

History

The flag was adopted in 1905 and modified in 1981 by adding the word 'MONTANA above the seal.

Former state flag of Montana, 1905–1981.

Proposed Changes

Montana state flag design proposed by James Croft in 1974.

Montana state flag design proposed by Edward Mooney and friends in 1979.

Proposals for a New Flag of Montana

MT Flag Proposal "ironchefshark"

MT Flag Proposal "Bezbojnicul"

MT Flag Proposal "SonofSibir"

MT Flag Proposal "The Professor"

MT Flag Proposal "Andrew Rogers #1"

MT Flag Proposal "Andrew Rogers #2"

Montana flag proposal by Andrew Rogers, modified by HansLN. Sep 2015.

MT Flag Proposal "Jack Expo"

MT Flag Proposal "Wolfdog406"

MT Flag Proposal "FlagFreak"

MT Flag Proposal "Tibbetts 1"

MT Flag Proposal "Tibbetts 2"

MT Flag Proposal "Leonardo Piccioni"

MT Flag Proposal by Kermitdefrog

Montana Flag Proposal (ckward)

Montana State Flag Proposal No. 2 Designed By: Stephen Richard Barlow 16 AuG 2014

MT Flag Proposal "BigRed618"

Montana flag proposal 1 by HansLN. Dec 2013. (details)

Montana flag proposal 2 by HansLN. Jan 2015. (details)

Montana flag proposal 3 by HansLN. Jan 2015. (details)

Montana State Flag Symplistic Proposal. Montaña means “mountain” in Spanish — these form an abstract “M.” The white lines are snow, and the blue field is sky (big sky country). By Ed Mitchell. 2013.

New Montana Flag Proposal by PatrickJK

MT flag proposal by 5thEye

Montana Flag Proposal by TheMaster001

MT Flag proposal by D. Zosso (Feb 2016). Oro y plata; lines represent the mountains and the letter M.

MT Flag proposal 2 (D. Zosso); Dark blue field; Twisted "oro y plata" bands representing the mountains and the letter M.

Montana Flag proposal by James Dignan, May 2015

"Treasure Seal" a design specifically designed for outside display on a flag pole. Design Rotten Ali.

"Charlie Brown" version as a giant snow covered M mountain range. Design Rotten Ali,

MT flag proposal by Fabio Schubert

"Shining Mountains Flag" by SimplisticFlags. January 2019. (details)

small tweak to existing flag using bison skull symbol in place of state seal. by Zawsi

Oro y Plata (Silver and Gold) - the bison skull is an old and loved symbol of Montana that can be found on its license plates and state quarter. Oro y Plata is the state motto and is represented by color. by Zawsi

Clean. by Zawsi

MT Flag Proposal "apollohawkridge"

Updated proportions to a proposal by Andrew Rogers. The triangle shapes represent mountains and a stylized M. Gold and Silver colors are from the motto in the state seal, “Oro y Plata.” Blue is for the color of Montana’s “Big Sky.” Posted by Preston Knapp [1]

Proposal for a flag for Montana, taking the colors and the basic layout from the state seal. By Qaz Dec 2019 (details)

Proposal for a flag for Montana, taking the basic layout from the state seal. Reduced number of colors. By Qaz Dec 2019 (details)

A revision of an outstanding design by Leonardo Piccioni. Part of series of designs for state flags, all in blue and white. (Posted by Ken Morton)

41 gold circles represent the admission order number of Montana. Blue field for Big Sky.

Light blue 'big sky', sun from seal, mountains in the shape of an M, gold and silver (oro y plata) separated by dark blue to follow rules of tincture.

Sky blue for Big Sky State, sun from current flag, gold and silver stripes (oro y plata) separated by dark blue to symbolize state's water resources. White space for snow and Glacier NP.

Variations on above theme

Same as above, adding a grizzly bear print to symbolize state animal.

Results from the US State Flags contest to try and find the best redesign idea.

Light green prairie, green snow capped mountains, "big sky country"

Modification of an existing Idea for Montana's flag

Montana Flag Proposal- first made in March 2021 by Rebecca.

Montana flag redesign by Lewis Designs, Apr 2025. (details)