Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania
Country	United States
Flag of Pennsylvania
Adopted	1799
Score in 2001 NAVA survey	3.69/10 (57th of 72)
Standard of the Governor of Pennsylvania
Wikipedia article

The flag of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania consists of a blue field on which the state coat of arms is embroidered. Originally authorized by the state in 1799, the current design was enacted by law in 1907. The blue field must, by legislative mandate, match the shade of blue in the US flag (Pantone 282c).

The state coat of arms is surrounded by draft horses on both sides, and a bald eagle, which represents Pennsylvania's loyalty to the United States, above. The state coat of arms includes a ship under full sail, a plow, and three sheaves of wheat indicating the significance of commerce, labor, perseverance and agriculture to the state. Surrounding the coat of arms is a stalk of Indian corn on the left and an olive branch on the right. These represent the state's recognition of its past and its hope for the future. The scroll below the coat of arms reads: "Virtue, Liberty and Independence," which is the state's motto.

In the summer of 2007, a bill was introduced to the state legislature to add "Pennsylvania" to the bottom of the flag in golden letters. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted in favor of the change. The legislation was proposed by State Representative Tim Solobay. The Senate has not yet taken action on the bill.

Designs for a new Pennsylvania State Flag

Shown below are various designs for a new flag of Pennsylvania.

Flags featuring Keystones

PA Flag Proposal "NuclearVacuum 1"

PA Flag Proposal "Mark Luther #1"

PA Flag Proposal "Mark Luther 2"

PA Flag Proposal "Mark Luther #3"

PA Flag Proposal "Marmocet 2"

PA Flag Proposal "Marmocet 3"

PA Flag Proposal "Howard J Wilk #1"

PA Flag Proposal "Howard J Wilk" #2

PA Flag Proposal "Manonpinkcorner #2"

PA Flag Proposal "Rob64"

PA Flag Proposal "Wheatley Cereal"

PA Flag Proposal "VoronX #1"

PA Flag Proposal "Jack Expo #1"

PA Flag Proposal "Jack Expo #2"

PA Flag Proposal "SonofSibir #1"

PA Flag Proposal "SonofSibir #3"

PA Flag Proposal "Lord Grattan"

PA Flag Proposal "Iserlohn"

PA Flag "Iserlohn 2"

PA Flag Proposal "Iserlohn 3"

PA Flag Proposal "Djinn327"

PA Flag Proposal "Eigenwelt"

PA Flag Proposal "Uberguuy"

PA Flag Proposal "Uberguuy 2"

PA Flag Proposal "Emiss 1"

PA Flag Proposal "Brett A. Hand"

PA Flag Proposal "AlternateUniverseDesigns"

Proposed Pennsylvania flag - pointing to the future

PA Flag Proposal "PixieCoeFeets"

Pennsylvania flag proposal 1 by Hans. Dec 2013. (details)

Pennsylvania flag proposal 2 by Hans. Dec 2013. (details)

Proposed PA State Flag with Bloody Bucket by Cwalt925

PA State Flag inspired after Texas, by Cwalt925

PA flag proposal by 5thEye

PA flag proposal by 5thEye (yellow version)

PA flag proposal by nhprman

Keystone Tricolor by Tara Stark

Blue Keystone with White in hoist (matched to white tech stripe) and gold ib fly to perform well in a good breeze. Design by Rotten Ali.

PA flag proposal by Gutberg

Pennsylvania state flag proposed by Ken Morton. Simple is best.

PA state flag proposal #1 by Jeff Cook

PA state flag proposal #2 by Jeff Cook

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

Result sheet from the PA study of June 2019. Great winner - Keystone in COA colors by Tara Stark.

The horizontal color bars come from the Pennsylvania coat of arms: blue with a a ship carrying state commerce to all parts of the world; yellow with a clay-red plough, a symbol of Pennsylvania's rich natural resources; and green with three golden sheaves of wheat, representing fertile fields and Pennsylvania's wealth of human thought and action. The center symbol is a keystone, referring historically to Pennsylvania’s central location along the arch of the 13 original states, as well as the state’s vital role in holding together the states of the newly formed Union. Posted by Preston Knapp [1]

Flags featuring William Penn's coat of arms

PA Flag Proposal "Pimsleurable"

PA Flag Proposal "Pimsleurable" modified by Zolntsa

PA Flag Proposal "RNYAK"

PA Flag Proposal "Tibbetts"

PA flag proposal by Philip Tibbetts, modified by Hans. Dec 2014. (details)

PA Proposed Flag "VulcanTrekkie45"

Proposed PA flag by Tara Stark.

Proposal with shield on black background and olive branches. By Leonardo Iannelli.

First Redesign by SimplisticFlags. November 2018. (details)

Second redesign by SimplisticFlags. December 2018. (details)

Flags featuring both Keystones and William Penn's coat of arms

PA Flag Proposal "Marmocet 1"

PA Flag Proposal "Howard J Wilk" #3

PA Flag Proposal "Peregrine #1"

PA Flag Proposal "Peregrine #2"

PA Flag Proposal "Peregrine #2" modified by Ben Karnell

PA Flag Proposal "SonofSibir #2"

Pennsylvania Flag Proposal by Zolntsa

PA Flag Proposal "Emiss 2"

PA Flag Proposal by Kermitdefrog

PA Flag Proposal "Hellerick 1"

PA Flag Proposal "BigRed618"

Pennsylvania flag proposal 3 by Hans. Based on Tibbetts' and BigRed's flags. Jan 2015. (details)

Pennsylvania flag proposal 4 by Hans. Based on BigRed's flag. Jan 2017. (details)

Pennsylvania flag proposal 5 by Hans. Based on BigRed's flag. Jan 2017. (details)

Penn's Keystone State 1 by Newresnow

Keystone and Arms

Flag with William Penn's arms on the left and keystone on the right. By Leonardo Iannelli.

Pennsylvania flag proposal by Luismanuel1995. May 2020.

Flags featuring the Pennsylvania coat of arms (currently featured on official flag)

Flag Design proposal currently under consideration by Pennsylvania Legislature.

PA Flag Proposal "Manonpinkcorner #1"

PA Flag Proposal "Manonpinkcorner 3"

PA Flag Proposal "Zephyr"

PA Flag Proposal "R.O.T."

PA Flag Proposal - Multiple Independent Designers

PA Flag Proposal "Glen"

Pennsylvania State Flag Proposal No. 11 Designed By: Stephen Richard Barlow 01 SEP 2014

Pennsylvania State Flag Proposal No. 15 Designed By: Stephen Richard Barlow 01 SEP 2014

Pennsylvania flag proposal by Arminius13

Flag Proposal #1 by Dean Thomas. Armoral Banner of the State Arms (center shield)

Other flag proposals

PA Flag Proposal "Dutchie"

PA Flag Proposal "Lizard-Socks"

PA Flag Proposal "Akhenaten"

PA Flag Proposal "FlagFreak"

PA Flag Proposal "Bezbojnicul"

PA Flag Proposal "Aedgar777 1"

PA Flag Proposal "Aedgar777 2"

PA Flag Proposal "ah-sue"

PA Flag Proposal "zymologist"

Pennsylvania State Flag Simplistic Proposal By Ed Mitchell

PA Flag Proposal "Flag-ellation"

by Lesometa.

Pennsylvania flag proposal by James Dignan, January 2015.

Proposal for a flag for Pennsylvania. Colors and layout taken from state shield. By Qaz Dec 2019 (details)

I posted this design last year, but, someone deleted the post. Why, I do not know. So, here, once again, is my revised design for a Pennsylvania flag. (Re-posted by Ken Morton)

Part of series of designs for state flags, all in blue and white. (Posted by Ken Morton)

Most common symbolism

Keystone

Pennsylvania received the nickname "The Keystone State" in reference to its importance in early American history. It was located in the center of the original thirteen states, between the North and the South. Many documents, like the United States Declaration of Independence, were signed in the state. The state was also an economical "keystone", concentrating both industry, like northern states, and agriculture, like southern states. The keystone currently appears in all kinds of official imagery, such as road signs, car license plates, the government website, logos of government departments, and the state quarter. It is central to many flag proposals as well. In some designs, it's substituted by keys.

William Penn's coat of arms

William Penn was the founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, which became the current Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1783. During his government, the city of Philadelphia was planned and developed. Moreover, he was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom.

In his honor, Pennsylvania received the "Quaker State" nickname, in reference to Penn's belonging in the quaker movement.

Penn family's coat of arms can be blazoned as "argent, on a fess sable three plates", i.e., white with three white circles on a black horizontal stripe.

Colors

Pennsylvania license plate

The unofficial state colors of Pennsylvania are blue and gold.

Several designs use blue, white and gold stripes, based on the state's vehicle registration plates, which have had that design since 1999.