View source for Flag of Ohio

{{short description|U.S. state flag}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox flag
 | Name =State of Ohio
 | Image = Flag of Ohio.svg
 | Noborder=for this burgee.
 | Nickname = The Ohio Burgee
 | Use = 110000
 | Symbol = {{FIAV|110000}}{{FIAV|normal}}{{FIAV|Mirror}}
 | Proportion = 8:13
 | Adoption = {{Start date and age|1902|5|09}}
 | Design = A [[Guidon (United States)|Guidon]] constituting five horizontal stripes alternating between red and white. The chevron is azure containing a white and red "O" and 17 white stars.
 | Designer = [[John Eisenmann]]
}}

The '''Ohio Burgee''' is the official [[flag]] of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Ohio]]. It is a distinctive triangular [[Swallowtail (flag)|swallowtail flag]]. Its red, white, and blue elements symbolize the state's natural features and order of admission into the Union. A prominent disc in the flag's triangular canton is suggestive of the state's name. The flag was adopted in 1902.

The flag was designed in 1901 by [[John Eisenmann]] for the [[Pan-American Exposition]] and adopted in 1902. Before that, for nearly a century after statehood, Ohio did not have a legally authorized [[Flags of the U.S. states and territories|state flag]]. One unsuccessful proposal had called for a design based on the [[Seal of Ohio|state seal]].

Ohio has adopted an official salute to the flag and the official folding procedure gives it 17 folds. The Ohio flag has influenced a number of logos and municipal flags within the state. A scarlet-colored [[Flag of Ohio#Flag of the governor|gubernatorial flag]] is based on the state seal.

==Design==
[[File:Flag of Ohio at Sawyer Point.jpg|thumb|right|An Ohio flag flies above [[Sawyer Point Park & Yeatman's Cove|Sawyer Point]] in [[Cincinnati]].]]

The Ohio state flag's design is defined in the [[Ohio Revised Code]], section 5.01:

{{blockquote|The flag of the state shall be [[burgee]]-shaped. It shall have three red and two white horizontal stripes that represent the roads and waterways of the state. The union of the flag shall be seventeen five-pointed stars, white in a blue triangular field that represents the state's hills and valleys, the base of which shall be the staff end or vertical edge of the flag, and the apex of which shall be the center of the middle red stripe. The stars shall be grouped around a red disc superimposed upon a white circular "O." The thirteen stars grouped around the "O" represent the [[Thirteen Colonies|original states of the United States]] and the four stars added to the peak of the triangle symbolize that Ohio was the seventeenth state admitted to the union. The "O" represents the "O" in "Ohio" and suggests the state's nickname, the [[Aesculus glabra|buckeye]] state. The proportional dimensions of the flag and of its various parts shall be according to the official design on file in the office of the [[Ohio Secretary of State|secretary of state]].<ref>{{ORC||5|01}}</ref>}}

[[File:125th new york inf guidon.jpg|thumb|right|A typical 34-star Union guidon, carried by many Ohio cavalry units during the Civil War.]]

In addition to resembling the letter O and a buckeye nut, the flag's [[wikt:annulus|annulus]] also represents "the original territory of Ohio" in the [[Northwest Territory]].<ref name="Eisenmann design" />

[[File:Benetka Road (Ashtabula County, Ohio) Covered Bridge 3.jpg|thumb|right|A rectangular Ohio flag flies in front of the [[Benetka Road Covered Bridge]] in [[Ashtabula County, Ohio|Ashtabula County]].]]

Ohio's flag is the only non-rectangular [[Flags of the U.S. states|U.S. state flag]]. It is a rare example of a non-[[quadrilateral]] [[civil flag]]. According to vexillologist [[Whitney Smith]], it may be loosely based upon [[cavalry]] flags of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] and [[Spanish–American War]].<ref name="Purcell" /><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=flag of Ohio (United States state flag)|first=Whitney|last=Smith|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]]|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]]|year=2014|access-date=October 9, 2014|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1355638/flag-of-Ohio|archive-date=October 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015054224/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1355638/flag-of-Ohio|url-status=live}}</ref> The flag has been officially defined as a "[[burgee]]" since 2002,<ref name="Profile" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archives.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=124_SB_240 |title=124 SB 240 |access-date=2015-01-11 |archive-date=2016-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214410/http://archives.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=124_SB_240 |url-status=live }}</ref> even though burgees are typically used as [[maritime flag]]s. Its shape, lack of text, and [[Symmetry#Reflectional symmetry|mirror symmetry]] allow it to be flown or hung in various orientations without affecting legibility.<ref name="OHHist Ohio Day">{{cite journal|title=Ohio Day at Pan-American Exposition|journal=[[Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly]]|publisher=Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society|date=October 21, 1901|volume=10|issue=2|page=144|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HnEUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA144}}<!-- http://publications.ohiohistory.org/ohj/search/display.php?vol=10&pages=123-145 --></ref> On account of the flag's uncommon shape, foreign manufacturers have occasionally set the entire design against a white, rectangular field.<ref name="Purcell" />

==History==
For nearly a century after statehood, Ohio did not have a legally authorized state flag. The [[Ohio Military Reserve|state militia]] carried regimental colors based on the [[Flag of the United States|Stars and Stripes]], with the addition of "a large eagle, with the number of the regiment and the prescribed number of stars above".<ref name="Preble">{{cite book|last=Preble|first=George Henry|author-link=George Henry Preble|title=History of the Flag of the United States of America|year=1880|edition=2nd revised|publisher=A. Williams & Co.|location=Boston|page=639|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EAgoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA639}}</ref>

===Arsenal flag===
[[File:Ohio state flag aka Arsenal flag 1860s.png|thumb|A digital recreation of the Arsenal flag]]
By the early 1850s, Ohio expressed interest in adopting a state flag, as several other states had already done. In late 1860, [[Quartermaster general|Quartermaster General]] David L. Wood and [[Ohio Adjutant General's Department|Adjutant General]] [[Henry B. Carrington]] devised a flag consisting of the [[Seal of Ohio|state seal]] upon a white field.<ref name="Sloane">{{cite conference|first=Rush R.|last=Sloane|title=The Organization and Admission of Ohio into the Union and the Great Seal of the State|book-title=Ohio Centennial Anniversary Celebration at Chillicothe, May 20–21, 1903, under the auspices of the Ohio State Archæological and Historical Society: complete proceedings|conference=Ohio Centennial Anniversary Celebration|location=[[Chillicothe, Ohio]]|publisher=[[Ohio History Connection|Ohio State Archæological and Historical Society]]|year=1903|via=[[Internet Archive]]|pages=90–119|oclc=855752|lccn=04018527|url=https://archive.org/details/ohiocentennialan00ohiorich}}</ref><ref name="Smith">{{cite book|first=William Henry|last=Smith|author-link=William Henry Smith (American politician)|title=Report of the Secretary of State|location=Columbus, Ohio|date=November 25, 1865|pages=435–441|via=Google Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ll5AAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA435}}</ref> They had it flown above the [[Ohio State Arsenal]] in Columbus, in hopes that it might someday become the state flag. On January 17, 1861, at a banquet organized by the Columbus [[International Typographical Union|Typographical Union]] Local #5, future U.S. President [[James A. Garfield]] gave a speech defending the national flag as the only flag Ohio's soldiers would march to battle under. The generals, in attendance, were moved to set aside their proposal and hoist the Stars and Stripes in its place.<ref name="DAR Hodge">{{cite speech|title=Speech by State Regent O. J. Hodge|first=Orlando John|last=Hodge|event=Thirteenth Continental Congress of the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]]|location=Washington, D.C.|date=April 19, 1904|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fANHAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA77|via=Google Books}}</ref> Later that year, Wood and Carrington joined fellow Ohioans [[Ohio in the American Civil War|in battle]] under the 34-star Union flag, which would serve as the inspiration for a state banner decades later.<ref name="Hodge">{{cite book|first=Orlando John|last=Hodge|title=Reminiscences|volume=1|publisher=The Imperial Press|year=1902|pages=117–120|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8zkVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA117}}</ref>

===Eisenmann's guidon===
[[File:The Ohio State Flag (design).jpg|thumb|left|Eisenmann's original specification<ref name="Eisenmann design">{{cite web|title=The Ohio State Flag|first=John|last=Eisenmann|via=Ohio Memory|year=1901|url=http://www.ohiomemory.org/cdm/ref/collection/p267401coll32/id/4047|access-date=2018-05-15|archive-date=2018-05-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515183729/http://www.ohiomemory.org/cdm/ref/collection/p267401coll32/id/4047|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

In 1901, Cleveland architect [[John Eisenmann]] was commissioned to design an exhibition hall for his state at the [[Pan-American Exposition]] in [[Buffalo, New York]]. He developed a distinctive flag to fly over each corner of the Ohio Building.<ref name="Profile">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://www.sos.state.oh.us/profile-ohio/things/state-flag-of-ohio/|chapter=State Flag of Ohio|title=Profile Ohio|date=June 2014|access-date=April 3, 2018|publisher=[[Ohio Secretary of State]]|location=[[Columbus, Ohio]]|url=https://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/ProfileOhio.aspx|archive-date=July 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710221711/http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/ProfileOhio.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> The wool flags officially represented the Ohio Pan-American Exposition Commission rather than the state. On July 18, Governor [[George K. Nash]] visited the exposition, where he was presented with one of the flags,<ref name="Purcell" /> which is now held in the [[Ohio History Connection]] collections.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ohio Flag|first=John|last=Eisenmann|year=1901|via=Ohio Memory|oclc=70657823|url=http://www.ohiomemory.org/cdm/ref/collection/p267401coll32/id/4101|access-date=2018-05-15|archive-date=2018-05-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515183733/http://www.ohiomemory.org/cdm/ref/collection/p267401coll32/id/4101|url-status=live}}</ref> Eisenmann secured a U.S. [[design patent]] for his design, which he described as "a triangular forked or [[Swallowtail (flag)|swallow-tailed flag]] corresponding to the shape generally known as a 'cavalry-[[Guidon (United States)|guidon]]' or 'broad pennant.'"<ref name="Eisenmann patent">{{US patent reference|number=D34810S|y=1901|m=07|d=23|inventor=[[John Eisenmann]]|title=Design for a flag}} ([//www.google.com/patents/USD34810 US D34810 S] via Google Patents)</ref>

In 1902, State Representative [[William S. McKinnon]], a member of the Ohio Pan-American Exposition Commission, introduced House Bill 213<!-- 75 HB 213 --> designating Eisenmann's design as the official flag. It became law on May 9,<ref name="Huntington" /> making it the 20th U.S. state flag or banner.<ref name="Purcell">{{cite conference|title=The Centennial of Ohio's Flag: From Obscurity to Esteem|first=John M.|last=Purcell|date=July 23, 2001|location=[[York]]|conference=International Congress of Vexillology|publisher=[[International Federation of Vexillological Associations]]|pages=181–184|url=https://www.flaginstitute.org/pdfs/John%20Purcell.pdf|access-date=September 22, 2014|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304044409/https://www.flaginstitute.org/pdfs/John%20Purcell.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> (Eisenmann had assigned his patent, which had a term of three and a half years, to the State of Ohio on April 24.<ref name="Eisenmann assignment">{{cite letter|subject=Assignment for patent of design for Ohio flag|first=John|last=Eisenmann|recipient=the Ohio Secretary of State|date=April 24, 1902|url=http://www.ohiomemory.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p267401coll32/id/4099/rec/2}}</ref>)

[[File:Ohio Building at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition.png|thumb|right|The Ohio Building at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition]]

Because Eisenmann's design deviated from the "seal on a bedsheet" design then nearly universal among state flags, the press looked overseas for precedents: the layout was likened to either the [[flag of Cuba]]<ref name="Galbreath">{{cite journal|first=Charles Burleigh|last=Galbreath|author-link=Charles Burleigh Galbreath|title=Seals and Ohio flag|journal=Monthly Bulletins of the Ohio State Library|location=Columbus, Ohio|publisher=Ohio Board of Library Commissioners|volume=2|issue=4|year=1902|pages=1–5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DrwVAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA177|via=Google Books|access-date=2021-10-30|archive-date=2024-01-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115215654/https://books.google.com/books?id=DrwVAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA177#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}<!-- http://www.ohiogenealogyexpress.com/ohio_mckinley.html --></ref> or [[Flag of the Philippines|of the Philippines]],<ref name="Enquirer Smites" /> while the red and white annulus was derided for its similarity to the sun on the [[Flag of Japan|Japanese flag]].<ref name="Huntington">{{cite magazine|title=The Flag of Ohio (editorial)|magazine=The Ohio Illustrated Magazine|editor-first=Webster Perit|editor-last=Huntington|date=July 1906|volume=1|issue=1|pages=96–97|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Zc-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA96|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Initially, Ohio's flag was seldom used, in part due to the prevailing opinion that the Stars and Stripes should hold a monopoly on patriotic displays. Similar sentiment hindered the adoption of municipal flags in [[Flag of Cleveland|Cleveland]] and [[Flag of Cincinnati|Cincinnati]], to the extent that both were downplayed as mere "banners" for promotional purposes.<ref name="Purcell" /><ref name="Enquirer against">{{cite news|title=Against It Are Citizens Generally|work=[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]|volume=53|issue=28|page=8|date=January 28, 1896|quote=‘Well, there does seem to be a lot of people who object to the idea of Cincinnati having a flag,’ was [Mayor Caldwell’s] answer, ‘but I think that the question is not properly understood. … In fact, it is not a flag. It is merely a banner, which may be taken on excursions by Cincinnati people to advertise the city. It can be worn in miniature in the buttonhole.’|id={{ProQuest|895649247}}}}</ref> In 1903, it was reported that, among state politicians, only Nash displayed the guidon.<ref name="Enquirer Smites">{{cite news|title=Himself on the Jawbone Every Time He Looks at the Bundle of Ohio Flag For Which There Is No Call.|last=Smites|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|volume=60|issue=109|date=April 19, 1903|quote=A sample flag done in silk hung in the office of the Governor for months. Most of the people who saw it were under the impression that it was a Filipino trophy sent home by some daring Ohio soldier who had captured it in Balignan from the Society of the [[Katipunan]]. … The only flag, as state, seen in these parts was the one that hung in the Executive chambers.|id={{ProQuest|883789617}}}}</ref>

In the century following its adoption, the guidon gained significant popularity, being flown not only by the state but frequently also by its residents and businesses.<ref name="Purcell" />

===Gallery===
<gallery class="center" widths="220">
File:Ohio state banner (1872).png|Unofficial state banner used by state delegates at the [[1872 Republican National Convention]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=UNIQUE, HAND-PAINTED BANNER WITH THE SEAL OF THE STATE OF OHIO, MADE CA 1868-1880, LIKELY HAVING REPRESENTED DELEGATES FROM THAT STATE AT THE 1872 REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION IN PHILADELPHIA, OR THE DEMOCRAT NATIONAL CONVENTION IN BALTIMORE |url=https://jeffbridgman.com/inventory/banner-state-ohio-ca-having-philadelphia-1868-o3098.html |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=jeffbridgman.com}}</ref>
File:Ohio Unofficial state banner c1880-1910.png|Unofficial state banner c1880-1910<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rare and Outstanding Antique Ohio Parade Banner {{!}} Includes 17 Stars, 13 Stripes, and an Early Version of the State Seal {{!}} Circa 1888-1910 BONSELL {{!}} AMERICANA |url=https://www.bonsellamericana.com/all-antique-flags-for-sale/rare-and-outstanding-antique-ohio-parade-banner-includes-17-stars-13-stripes-and-an-early-version-of-the-state-seal-circa-1888-1910 |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=BONSELL {{!}} AMERICANA |language=en-US}}</ref>
File:Ohio Misprinted flag 1902.png|Digital remake of a misprinted guidon with a blue disc c1902-1915<ref>{{Cite web |title=EARLY OHIO STATE FLAG WITH A BLUE DISC INSIDE THE BUCKEYE, circa 1902 - 1915, AN EXTREMELY RARE AND BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE |url=https://jeffbridgman.com/inventory/early-ohio-state-flag-blue-1902-o5013.html |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=jeffbridgman.com}}</ref>
File:Ohio state flag with Grand Army of the Republic overprint (1925).png|State flag used by [[Grand Army of the Republic]], 1925<ref>{{Cite web |title=OHIO STATE FLAG WITH CIVIL WAR VETERANS' OVERPRINT FROM THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC POST IN COLUMBUS, MADE IN MOURNING OF THE 1925 PASSING OF NATIONAL G.A.R. COMMANDER IN CHIEF DANIEL M. HALL, WHO ALSO SERVED AS COMMANDER OF THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF THE G.A.R., AS WELL AS THE LOCAL CHAPTER |url=https://jeffbridgman.com/inventory/ohio-state-flag-civil-war-army-1925-o3522.html |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=jeffbridgman.com}}</ref>
File:Ohio Bicentennial 13c 1976 issue.jpg|The Ohio state flag as depicted in the 1976 bicentennial postage stamp series.
</gallery>

==Usage==
===Salute===
In 2002, the Ohio General Assembly commemorated the 100th anniversary of the state flag's adoption by adopting a salute to the flag, to be recited after the [[Pledge of Allegiance (United States)|Pledge of Allegiance]]:

{{blockquote|I salute the flag of the state of Ohio and pledge to the Buckeye State respect and loyalty.|{{ORC||5|013|name=Pledge to the state flag}}}}

===Folding the flag===
[[File:Folding the flag of Ohio.gif|thumb|right|The flag of Ohio is officially folded in 17 steps.]]

A method of folding the flag of Ohio was created by Alex Weinstock, a [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scout]] from [[Junction City, Ohio|Junction City]],<ref name="Profile" /> for his [[Eagle Scout Service Project|Eagle Scout service project]]. It requires two people. The procedure was passed by the 125th [[Ohio General Assembly]] as House Bill 552 and signed into law by [[List of Governors of Ohio|Governor]] [[Bob Taft]] on February 15, 2005:<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archives.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=125_HB_552 |title=125 HB 552 |access-date=2015-01-11 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304033628/http://archives.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=125_HB_552 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{blockquote|The general assembly hereby establishes a recommended procedure for the folding of the state flag by two people. The procedure is as follows:

With the flag unfolded, fold the flag in half lengthwise so that the points of the flag are aligned. Fold the flag in half lengthwise a second time to form a long strip with the red disc facing the ground. Next, fold the pointed end back onto itself to form a rectangle. These steps entail three folds.

Starting on the end formed by the fold of the pointed end back onto itself, fold two inches of the flag onto itself for a flag with a three-foot hoist and a five-foot fly, or another appropriate width of fold for a flag of a different size. Repeat the folds a total of fourteen times, alternating the folds in a fan-like manner.

The result is a total of seventeen folds symbolizing that Ohio was the seventeenth state admitted to the Union. Finally, neatly and snugly wrap the remaining length of flag around the fan-folds to form a compact rectangle.|{{ORC||5|014|name=Procedure for folding state flag}}}}

Ohio is not the only state that has designated a folding procedure for its flag;<ref>For example, [http://www.texflags.org/flagfold.htm Texas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105084758/https://www.texflags.org/flagfold.htm |date=2019-11-05 }}, as prescribed in {{TX Govt Code|Folded state flag|11|3100|073}}, and [http://www.startribune.com/newsgraphics/92537874.html Minnesota] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006102042/http://www.startribune.com/newsgraphics/92537874.html |date=2014-10-06 }}, per [https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=1.141 2013 Minnesota Statutes 1.141 Subd. 6] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006100820/https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=1.141 |date=2014-10-06 }}.</ref> however, Ohio's procedure takes on special importance due to the flag's irregular shape. A flag vendor in Arkansas has described the procedure as "quite a challenge".<ref>{{cite web|title=It's tricky folding the state flag of Ohio|first=Kerry|last=McCoy|work=Kerry's business blog|publisher=FlagandBanner.com|date=January 25, 2005|access-date=October 6, 2014|url=http://bannerisms.flagandbanner.com/flag-news/its-tricky-folding-the-state-flag-of-ohio/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006080121/http://bannerisms.flagandbanner.com/flag-news/its-tricky-folding-the-state-flag-of-ohio/|archive-date=October 6, 2014}}</ref>

===Derivations===
Ohio's flag is regularly flown during football games by [[Ohio State University Marching Band]]'s "JI-Row" as the percussion section's row mascot.<ref>{{cite web|title=Instrumentation|publisher=The Ohio State University Marching & Athletic Bands|access-date=October 9, 2014|url=https://osumarchingband.com/osumb/instrumentation/|quote=The American Flag accompanies JI-Row’s Ohio Flag in the stands to show the Pride in our country and to honor the military tradition of the OSUMB.|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014175839/https://osumarchingband.com/osumb/instrumentation/|archive-date=October 14, 2014}}</ref> The [[Columbus Blue Jackets]] logo<ref>{{cite news |last=Portzline |first=Aaron |last2=Arace |first2=Michael |date=23 June 2007 |title=Jackets unveil new uniforms |newspaper=The Columbus Dispatch |url=http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2007/06/23/nhl_draft_notes23.ART_ART_06-23-07_C7_SB73IDN.html |access-date=27 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924013242/http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2007/06/23/nhl_draft_notes23.ART_ART_06-23-07_C7_SB73IDN.html |archive-date=Sep 24, 2015}}</ref> and [[Cincinnati Bengals]] fan flag<ref>{{cite news |date=September 5, 2012 |title=NFL Fan Flag Winners – PHOTOS |work=[[KSDK]] |location=[[St. Louis]] |url=http://archive.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=336689 |access-date=September 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140922052623/http://archive.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=336689 |archive-date=22 September 2014}}</ref> are both based on the state flag.

A number of municipalities and counties in Ohio have adopted pennants and swallowtails based on the state burgee. [[Adams County, Ohio|Adams County]] and the cities of [[Marysville, Ohio|Marysville]] and [[Mentor, Ohio|Mentor]] have flags that essentially replace the annulus with a seal and modify the pattern of stars in the triangular union.<ref name="Purcell" /><ref name="Statehouse counties">{{cite web|title=County Flags|publisher=[[Ohio Statehouse]]|access-date=September 22, 2014|url=http://www.ohiostatehouse.org/museum/county-flags|archive-date=August 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140817072559/http://www.ohiostatehouse.org/museum/county-flags|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=City Flag Changes|work=Portland Flag Association|access-date=September 16, 2019|url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15EwFDtNiFj5hvmyEJEf4xn8B-Ld-yqZ68SIGykrumIc|via=Google Sheets|archive-date=January 15, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115215659/https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15EwFDtNiFj5hvmyEJEf4xn8B-Ld-yqZ68SIGykrumIc/edit#gid=0|url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally, the city of [[Green, Ohio|Green]] uses a burgee for the city flag, altering the colors to green and white stripes, as opposed to the original red and white on the Ohio state flag.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/Flags/us-oh-gr.html|title=Green, Ohio (U.S.)|access-date=2020-03-16|archive-date=2020-08-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200822182019/https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-oh-gr.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Flag of the governor==
{{See also|Flags of governors of the U.S. states}}
[[File:Flag of the Governor of Ohio.svg|thumb|right|200px|{{FIAV|000000}} The flag of the governor of Ohio incorporates the 1996 state coat of arms. A physical flag made in the 1950s colors the hills purple and omits the river.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ohio Governor's flag|publisher=Ohio History Connection|year=1950s|url=http://www.ohiomemory.org/cdm/ref/collection/flags/id/1449|via=Ohio Memory|access-date=2018-05-01|archive-date=2018-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502140350/http://www.ohiomemory.org/cdm/ref/collection/flags/id/1449|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
The flag of the [[List of governors of Ohio|governor of Ohio]] consists of the [[Seal of Ohio|Great Seal of Ohio]] encircled with 13 white stars on a scarlet field, with a five-point star in each corner. Like the state flag, it has 17 stars in total.

The [[Ohio Adjutant General's Department|adjutant general]]'s office adopted this design in 1905 to represent the governor on official occasions.<ref name="96 HJR 49">{{cite journal|title=H. J. R. No. 49: Providing for the designation of a governor's flag|first=Craig D.|last=Slagle|journal=House Journal|publisher=Ohio Legislative Service Commission|year=1945|page=548|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fmslAQAAIAAJ}}</ref><ref name="Smith 1975" /> One such flag hangs in the [[Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center|Rutherford B. Hayes Center Library]], a memorial to the 32nd Ohio governor and 19th U.S. president.<ref>{{cite book|title=Dedication of the Hayes Memorial Library and Museum in Honor of Rutherford Birchard Hayes at Spiegel Grove State Park, Fremont, Ohio, May 30, 1916|editor-first=Lucy E.|editor-last=Keeler|publisher=[[Ohio History Connection|Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society]]|year=1916|page=77|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ldFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA77}} Additionally, a glimpse of the flag can be seen in a photograph of the rotunda opposite page 22.</ref> The design was officially recognized by the 96th General Assembly effective October 3, 1945:<ref name="96 HJR 49" />

{{blockquote|It shall have a white star in each of the four corners on an oblong scarlet background with the official seal of the state of Ohio in the center surrounded by thirteen white stars. The proportional dimensions of the flag and of its various parts shall be according to a design approved by the adjutant general and in accordance with the governor's flag used by the adjutant general's office for over thirty years.|96 HJR 49<ref name="96 HJR 49" />}}

Since September 30, 1963, the flag has been defined in greater detail:<ref name="Smith 1975">{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Whitney |url=https://archive.org/details/flagbookofunit00smit |title=The Flag Book of the United States |publisher=[[William Morrow and Company]] |year=1975 |isbn=9780688079772 |location=New York City |page=164 |url-access=registration}} Smith notes that the prior design had a ratio of 40×63, equivalent to the modern specification.</ref>

{{blockquote|The flag of the governor of this state will be of scarlet wool bunting, six feet eight inches hoist by ten feet six inches fly. In each of the four corners will be a white five-pointed star with one point upward. The centers of these stars will be twelve inches from the long edges and seventeen inches from the short edges of the flag. In the center of the flag will be a reproduction of the great seal of Ohio in proper colors, three feet in diameter, surrounded by thirteen white stars equally spaced with their centers on an imaginary circle four feet three inches in diameter. All stars shall be of such size that their points would lie on the circumference of an imaginary circle ten inches in diameter.|{{ORC||5|011|name=Ohio governor's flag}}}}

The [[Ohio Revised Code]] also specifies smaller versions of this design to be used as the governor's [[Maritime flag|naval flag]] and automobile flag.

==See also==
{{Portal|Ohio}}
*[[Flag of Cincinnati]]
*[[Flag of Cleveland]]
*[[Flag of Columbus, Ohio|Flag of Columbus]]
*[[List of Ohio state symbols]]
*[[Seal of Ohio]]
*[[Flags of the U.S. states]]
*[[Flag of Nepal]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ohio state flag}}
* [https://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/upload/publications/agency/flag.pdf State Flag of Ohio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223224817/http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/upload/publications/agency/flag.pdf |date=2016-12-23 }}&nbsp;– brochure by the Ohio Secretary of State's office
* {{FOTW | title=Ohio | id=us-oh}}
* [http://lsc.state.oh.us/analyses/Analysis125.nsf/All%20Bills%20and%20Resolutions/184AF74C2F249D3385256F8D004DDA36 125th General Assembly of Ohio, H.B. 552]
* [http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Ohio%27s_State_Flag_%281901%29?rec=1883 Ohio's State Flag (1901)]&nbsp;– [[Ohio History Connection|Ohio History Central]]
* [http://troop281.org/images/resources/Folding_the_Ohio_Flag.pdf Ohio Flag folding instructions in PDF form] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413144632/http://troop281.org/images/resources/Folding_the_Ohio_Flag.pdf |date=2017-04-13 }}
* [http://www.ohiostatehouse.org/museum/county-flags Ohio county flags]&nbsp;– Ohio Statehouse

{{US state flags}}
{{Ohio}}

[[Category:United States state flags|Ohio]]
[[Category:Symbols of Ohio]]
[[Category:Flags of Ohio|Ohio]]
[[Category:Ohio culture]]
[[Category:Flags introduced in 1901|Ohio]]
[[Category:Flags with blue, red and white]]
[[Category:Flags with stars]]