View source for Flag and seal of Idaho

{{short description|U.S. state flag and seal}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox flag
|Name = State of Idaho
|Article =
|Image = Flag of Idaho.svg
|Nickname = 
|Use = 110000
|Symbol = {{FIAV|110000}} {{FIAV|normal}} {{FIAV|Mirror}}
|Adoption = {{start date and age|1907|03|12}}<ref name="Britannica"/> (initial version)<br>{{start date and age|1927|3|15}}<ref name="Britannica"/> (first modification)<br>{{start date and age|1957|3}}<ref name="Britannica"/> (second modification)
|Design = A state seal above the words "State of Idaho" in gold letters on a red and gold band on a blue field.
|Designer =  
|Proportion=26:33 (official)}}
{{Infobox coat of arms
|name             = Great Seal of the State of Idaho
|image            = Seal of Idaho.svg
|image_width      = 200
|middle           = 
|middle_width     = 
|middle_caption   = 
|lesser           = 
|lesser_width     = 
|lesser_caption   = 
|image2           = 
|image2_width     = 
|image2_caption   = 
|image3           = 
|image3_width     = 
|image3_caption   = 
|armiger          = State of Idaho
|year_adopted     = 1891 (modified 1957)
|crest            = 
|torse            = 
|shield           = 
|supporters       = 
|compartment      = 
|motto            = Esto perpetua 
|orders           = 
|other_elements   = 
|earlier_versions = 
|use              = 
}}

The '''seal of the U.S. Territory of [[Idaho]]''' was adopted in 1863 and redrawn several times before statehood in 1890. The first state Great Seal was designed in the 1890s by [[Emma Edwards Green]], the only woman to design a U.S. state seal. That seal was used until 1957, when the seal was slightly redrawn by Paul B. Evans and the Caxton Printers, Ltd. at the request of the state government, in order to add more anthropocentric elements to the centered shield.

The '''flag of the U.S. state of Idaho''' was adopted on March 12, 1907, and consists of the state seal on a field of blue.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Whitney |title=flag of Idaho |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Idaho |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=December 4, 2024}}</ref> The words "State of Idaho" appear in gold letters on a red and gold band below the seal. According to the official description of the [[flag]], there should also be a fringe of gold around the edges.<ref>[http://gov.idaho.gov/fyi/symbols/symbols_index.html Governor C. L. "Butch" Otter - The State of Idaho - FYI Idaho State Symbols<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100630201842/http://gov.idaho.gov/fyi/symbols/symbols_index.html |date=June 30, 2010 }}</ref> The official proportions of the flag, 26:33, are unique in the world, although many reproductions use more common ratios like 2:3

The seal depicts a miner and a woman representing equality, liberty and justice. The symbols on the seal represent some of [[Idaho]]'s natural resources: [[Mining|mines]], [[forest]]s, [[farm]]land and [[wildlife]].

==History==
The current seal contains the text "Great Seal of the State of Idaho" in the outer ring, with the star that signifies a new light in the galaxy of states. The inner ring contains a banner with the [[Latin]] motto, ''[[Esto perpetua]]'' ("Let it be perpetual" or "It is forever").<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/historicaldescri00silv#page/8/mode/2up/search/seal|title = A historical, descriptive and commercial directory of Owyhee County, Idaho, January 1898|year = 1898}}</ref> A woman (signifying justice) and a man (dressed as a miner) support a shield. The miner represents the chief industry of the state at the time of statehood.

Inside, the shield bears images symbolic of the state. The pine tree in the foreground refers to Idaho's immense timber interests. The husbandman plowing on the left side of the shield, together with the sheaf of grain beneath the shield, are emblematic of Idaho's agricultural resources, while the two [[cornucopia]]s, or horns of plenty, refer to the horticultural. Idaho has a game law, which protects the elk and moose; an elk's head rises above the shield. The state flower, the wild syringa or [[Philadelphus lewisii|mock orange]], grows tall at the woman's right, while the ripened wheat grows as high as her shoulder. The river depicted in the shield is the [[Snake River|Snake]] or [[Shoshone River]].

In 1957, the seal was slightly redrawn by Paul B. Evans and the Caxton Printers, Ltd. at the request of the state government, in order to add more anthropocentric elements to the centered shield.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://sos.idaho.gov/elect/bluebook/Histseal.htm | title=Idaho State Seal History }}</ref>

{{Multiple image
|align=left
|image1=The original Idahoan state flag from the 1920s.jpg
|caption1=The original Idahoan state flag from the 1920s.
|image2=An old Idaho state flag from the 1930s.webp
|caption2=An old Idahoan state flag from the 1930s.
|image3=US and Idaho state flag flying.jpg
|caption3=The Idaho flag flying under the U.S. flag.
|image4=Idaho Bicentennial 13c 1976 issue.jpg
|caption4=The Idaho state flag as depicted in the 1976 bicentennial postage stamp series.
}}
{{clr}}

In 2001, the [[North American Vexillological Association]] surveyed its members on the designs of all 72 [[Provinces of Canada|Canadian provincial]], [[U.S. state]] and [[Territories of the United States|U.S. territorial]] flags, combined. Idaho finished in the bottom ten, finishing 64th out of the 72.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nava.org/digital-library/design/surveys/2001-State-Provincial-Flag-Survey.pdf|title=2001 State/Provincial Flag Survey - NAVA.org|work=nava.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=The Idaho State Flag|journal=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series|issue=135|date=August 1968|publisher=[[Idaho State Historical Society]]|url=https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/0135.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021172422/https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/0135.pdf|archive-date=2020-10-21|access-date=2024-08-03}}</ref>

During much of the 1920s, there was only one known Idahoan state flag in existence, designed by the state's adjutant general and in possession of the governor of Idaho, traveling with him as he went abroad.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.rickjust.com/blog/the-state-flag | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923032105/https://www.rickjust.com/blog/the-state-flag | archive-date=2020-09-23 | title=THE State Flag | access-date=2023-12-22 | url-status=live }}</ref>

==Historical seals==
<gallery>
File:Seal of Idaho (1863–1866).jpg|Seal of Idaho Territory 1863–1866
File:Seal of Idaho (1866–1890).jpg|Seal of Idaho Territory 1866–1890
File:Idaho territory coat of arms (illustrated, 1876).jpg|Territorial [[Historical coats of arms of the U.S. states|historical coat of arms]] (illustrated, 1876)
Seal of Idaho (1891–1957).png|The original 1891 seal as designed by [[Emma Edwards Green]]; it was used until 1957.
</gallery>

==Government seals of Idaho==
<gallery>
File:Seal of the Idaho Department of Transportation.svg|Seal of the [[Idaho Transportation Department]]
File:Idaho National Guard logo.png|Seal of the [[Idaho National Guard]]
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090416044820/http://gov.idaho.gov/fyi/seal/seal_index.html The Great Seal of the State of Idaho]

{{US_state_seals}}
{{US state flags}}
{{Idaho}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seal Of Idaho}}
[[Category:Symbols of Idaho]]
[[Category:United States state seals|Idaho]]
[[Category:United States state flags|Idaho]]
[[Category:Flags of Idaho|Idaho]]
[[Category:Flags with stars]]
[[Category:Coats of arms with deer|Idaho]]
[[Category:Coats of arms with mountains|Idaho]]
[[Category:Coats of arms with trees|Idaho]]
[[Category:Coats of arms with horses|Idaho]]
[[Category:Coats of arms with wheat|Idaho]]
[[Category:Coats of arms with shovels|Idaho]]
[[Category:Coats of arms with pickaxes|Idaho]]
[[Category:Coats of arms with ploughs|Idaho]]
[[Category:Coats of arms with cornucopia|Idaho]]
[[Category:Coats of arms with the Phrygian cap|Idaho]]
[[Category:Flags displaying animals|Idaho]]