The flag of the state of South Dakota is a field of sky blue charged with a navy blue and white version of the state seal in the center, surrounded by gold triangles representing sun rays, surrounded in turn by inscriptions in gold sans-serif capitals of "SOUTH DAKOTA" on top and "THE MOUNT RUSHMORE STATE" (the state nickname) on the bottom.
The first flag of South Dakota, adopted in 1909, consisted of a golden sun surrounded by the words "SOUTH DAKOTA" and "THE SUNSHINE STATE" on a blue field. In 1963, the seal was added, and in 1992, the inscription on the bottom was changed to the current one.
2012 proposal
In January 2012, Representative Bernie Hunhoff sponsored a bill to adopt a new design for the state flag based on artwork by Dick Termes from Spearfish. Hunhoff introduced the bill on January 25, 2012; on February 6, the bill was amended to create the South Dakota State Flag Commission, which would have solicited submissions from the public for new flag designs and selected one to be considered by the 2013 legislature as the new state flag.
Immediately after being amended, the bill was "deferred to the 41st legislative day". Since the South Dakota legislative session is only 40 days long, this type of deferral effectively kills legislation.
Proposals for a New Flag of South Dakota
Shown below are designs that have been proposed for a new flag of South Dakota.
SD Flag Proposal "Tibbetts"
SD Flag Proposal "ironchefshark"
SD Flag Proposal - Multiple Proponents
SD Proposed Flag "Lyly"
SD Proposed Flag "Dutchie"
SD Flag Proposal "Patrick Genna and Michael Rudolf"
SD Proposed Flag "Flaglog"
SD Flag Proposal "ah-sue"
SD Flag Proposal "The Kiat"
SD Flag Proposal "Lord Grattan"
SD Proposed Flag "VoronX 1"
SD Proposed Flag "VoronX 2"
SD Flag Proposal "Jack Expo"
SD Flag Proposal "FlagFreak"
SD Flag Proposal by Kermitdefrog
South Dakota State Flag Proposal No. 3 Designed By: Stephen Richard Barlow 16 AuG 2014
South Dakota State Flag Proposal No. 2 Designed By: Stephen Richard Barlow 16 AuG 2014
South Dakota State Flag Proposal No. 1 Designed By: Stephen Richard Barlow 16 AuG 2014
South Dakota State Flag Proposal No. 4 Designed By: Stephen Richard Barlow 20 Aug 2014
South Dakota State Flag Proposal No. 5 Designed By: Stephen R. Barlow 20 AuG 2014
South Dakota State Flag Proposal No. 6 Designed By: Stephen Richard Barlow 20 AuG 2014
South Dakota State Flag Proposal No. 7 Designed By: Stephen Richard Barlow 22 AuG 2014
South Dakota State Flag Proposal No. 8 Designed By: Stephen Richard Barlow 22 AuG 2014
South Dakota State Flag Proposal No. 9 Designed By: Stephen Richard Barlow 22 AuG 2014
SD Proposed Flag "vexilo"
SD Flag Proposal "BigRed618"
South Dakota flag proposal 1 by Hans. Jan 2014. (details)
South Dakota flag proposal 2 by Hans. Jan 2015. (details)
South Dakota flag proposal 3 by Hans. Mar 2015. (details)
South Dakota flag proposal 4 by Hans. Mar 2015. (details)
South Dakota flag proposal 5 by Hans. Mar 2015. (details)
South Dakota flag proposal 6 by Hans. Mar 2015. (details)
South Dakota flag proposal 7 by Hans. Mar 2015. (details)
South Dakota flag proposal 8 by Hans. Sep 2015. (details)
South Dakota State Flag Simplistic Proposal. It used to be known as the sunshine state. I also noticed the number two comes up a lot —the slogan has two parts, and the state was founded on November 2nd — so I represented it with two large color fields. By Ed Mitchell. 2013.