Kentucky (U.S.)

Commonwealth of Kentucky

Last modified: 2005-01-08 by rick wyatt
Keywords: kentucky | united states | finial | bird: cardinal |
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by Mario Fabretto, 24 February 1998

• Significant dates
• Finial
• Legal Description
• State Military Crest

• Bloomfield
• Frankfort
• Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government
• Louisville Metro
• Paducah
• Richmond
• Kentucky municipalities with incomplete flag information

See also:

• Breckinridge County
• Jefferson County
• Johnson County
• Oldham County
• Trimble County
• Woodford County
• Kentucky Symbols
• Kentucky Seal
• United States of America
• States of the United States

In 1795, two stars were added, representing Kentucky and Vermont, bringing the total number of stars on the U.S. flag to 15. There were thirteen stripes representing the thirteen original colonies.

Significant dates

The flag was in use since 1918, but it was not very well defined in law. The flag was definitized in 1963.
Nick Artimovich, 31 July 1996

Finial

Kentucky specifies a cardinal bird as the finial for its state flag.
Nick Artimovich, 3 May 1996

Legal Description

From my private archives (laws of Kentucky):

2.030 State flag.

1. The official state flag of the Commonwealth of Kentucky shall be of navy blue silk, nylon, wool or cotton bunting, or some other suitable material, with the seal of the Commonwealth encircled by a wreath, the lower half of which shall be goldenrod in bloom and the upper half the words "Commonwealth of Kentucky," embroidered, printed, painted or stamped on the center thereof. The dimensions of the flag may vary, but the length shall be one and nine-tenths (1 9/10) times the width and the diameter of the seal and encirclement shall be approximately two-thirds (2/3) the width of the flag.
2. The approved official drawings of the state flag shall be permanently retained in the files of the office of the Secretary of State. All state flags for official use of the Commonwealth shall conform as to color and design with these official drawings.
3. The emblem at the head of a flagstaff used to display the flag of the Commonwealth of Kentucky shall be the Kentucky cardinal in an alert but restful pose, cast in bronze, brass or other suitable material.
4. The flying of the state flag at all state buildings and installations including public school buildings, National Guard armories, state parks and other such buildings is considered prop