The flag of Utah has received a makeover from its current bald eagle design, but why did the state change their flag?
Utah Governor Spencer Cox has signed legislation approving a new state flag that will be adopted on March 9, 2024.
The current design features a navy background with a bald eagle, the USA national bird, encircled in a golden circle. It also includes Utah’s coat of arms and two dates – 1847, to represent when Mormon pioneers arrived in the region, and 1896, when Utah became the 45th state.
It was first adopted in 1913, so here’s why the western state is switching things up.
Photo: Getty Images
Why did Utah change their flag?
The state has welcomed the new design to represent its residents’ current shared values more accurately. The Utah State Flag Task Force was established in 2020 to guide the redesign.
Named More Than Just A Flag, the statewide flag project included a 2021 survey, which saw respondents claim that the current eagle flag didn’t represent them.
Read Related Also: Who is Tristan Thompson’s dad Trevor?
Due to the intricacy of the logo, the survey found that few Utahns could draw the design, and flags of sports teams were more prevalent in neighborhoods than the state emblem.
“The aim was to create a design that’s easier to reproduce and recognize at a distance, a design that Utahns can rally around,” the government website reads. “And to create a new state flag design that more Utahns will be proud to display.”
What the new Beehive Flag represents
- The navy blue foundation: To signify the state’s lakes and wide-open skies, as well as its principles of knowledge, freedom, optimism, and tradition.
- Beehive symbol: Represents Utah’s history and sense of community to create a successful industry. Industry was adopted as the state motto in 1959.
- Hexagon: The golden rim stands for strength and unity.
- Mountains: The white segment equates to peace and Utah’s snowy mountain peaks.
- Red rocks: The rock valley signify’s Southern Utah’s famous canyons.
- Star: Beneath the beehive is a white star to represent hope.
The beehive design is a combination of two finalists
5703 designs were submitted for consideration, of which more than 2500 were from students. The final design, a combination of two of the top five finalists, was announced in November 2022.
The two lucky submissions were courtesy of Bountiful resident, Mark Brooks, and Sarina Ehrgott of South Jordan. The latter is an employee of Utah’s department of cultural and community engagement.
Their concepts were the most popular among the public.
In other news, Late actress Rebecca Jones spoke bravely about cancer diagnosis in 2022
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,script’,
‘
fbq(‘init’, ‘677672980820926’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
