Utah State Flag And The Flag Company Inc

By Donald Frank


Utah became the 45th member of the union on Jan. 4, 1896, with Salt Lake City as its capital. Utah is known for having some of the best skiing in the country, and the mountains near Salt Lake City receive an average of 500 inches of snow per year.

In 1903, the Utah State Society Daughters of the Revolution (USSDR) presented a state flag to Governor Heber M. Wells. The silk flag, embroidered by Agnes Teudt Fernelius, displayed the Utah State Seal. Each member of the USSDR had donated one dollar to pay for the flag.

In October of 1903, it was determined that an error had been made in the State Seal depicted on the flag and it was also determined that the flag that had been presented and accepted by the Governor was not an official state flag but rather would serve as the Governor's regimental flag. An official state flag would have to comply with an act of the state legislature and thereby be approved by the state legislature.

The favorable reaction to this unauthorized modification led to a change in the law on March 11, 1913. The new flag, widely promoted by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers (a cultural organization similar to the DAR), remained unaltered for nearly a century.

In 1912, the Sons and Daughters of Utah Pioneers commissioned a flag to be presented to the battleship Utah. This flag displayed the Utah State Seal centered on a blue background and circled by a thin gold line. This flag became the official Utah State Flag as we know it today when it was approved by the legislature and Governor William Spry signed the House Joint Resolution in 1913.

There is a barrage of cheap and inferior Utah flags being imported and sold, that do not comply with the flag statute. This is bad for a number of reasons. Imported flags are cheaply made and more importantly, the designs, materials, colors, and methods of printing do not compare well with the better quality, longer-lasting, and correctly designed flags made by American manufacturers. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of Utah flag for the future.




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