Washington State Flag

The emblem on the state flag is the state seal, which was first designed in 1889 by Olympia jeweler Charles Talcott. Talcott used an ink bottle and a silver dollar to draw the rings of the seal, and then pasted a postage stamp in the center for the picture of George Washington. His brother L. Grant Talcott lettered the words "The Seal of the State of Washington 1889" and another brother, G. N. Talcott, cut the printing dye. In the seal used on the state flag, the picture of George Washington has a blue background and is encircled by a gold ring with black lettering.

According to law (RCW 1.20.010), "The official flag of the state of Washington shall be of dark green silk or bunting and shall bear in its center a reproduction of the seal of the state of Washington embroidered, printed, painted or stamped thereon. The edges of the flag may, or may not, be fringed. If a fringe is used the same shall be of gold or yellow color of the same shade as the seal. The dimensions of the flag may vary.

The Secretary of State is authorized to provide the state flag to units of the armed forces, without charge, as in his discretion he deems entitled thereto. The secretary of state is further authorized to sell the state flag to any citizen at a price to be determined by the secretary of state."

Additionally, the Secretary of State is customarily entrusted with the role of educating the public as to the history and the protocol and appropriate display of the Washington State flag individually and as it is flown with other flags.

Francis Scott Key, 1814

On Sept. 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key visited the British fleet in Chesapeake Bay to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes, who had been captured after the burning of Washington, D.C. The release was secured, but Key was detained on ship overnight during the shelling of Fort McHenry, one of the forts defending Baltimore. In the morning, he was so delighted to see the American flag still flying over the fort that he began a poem to commemorate the occasion. First published under the title "Defense of Fort McHenry," the poem soon attained wide popularity as sung to the tune "To Anacreon in Heaven." The origin of this tune is obscure, but John Stafford Smith, a British composer born in 1750, may have written it. Congress officially made "The Star-Spangled Banner" the National Anthem in 1931, although it already had been adopted as such by the Army and the Navy.

When the national anthem is played, all present should stand facing the U.S. Flag (or music if no flag is present), right hand over your heart, with head covering removed. Persons in uniform should stand at attention, remain silent, and render the proper salute until the completion of the national anthem.

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation;
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

I pledge Allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible,
with Liberty and Justice for all.

The original Pledge of Allegiance was written by Francis Bellamy (1855 - 1931), a Baptist minister, in August 1892. The Pledge was published in the September 8th issue of The Youth's Companion, the leading family magazine and the Reader's Digest of its day. In 1892, Francis Bellamy was also a chairman of a committee of state superintendents of education in the National Education Association. As its chairman, he prepared the program for the public schools' quadricentennial celebration for Columbus Day in 1892. He structured this public school program around a flag raising ceremony and a flag salute - his Pledge of Allegiance.

Other Translations

Spanish:

"Yo prometo lealtad a la bandera
de los estados Unidos de America,
y a la Republica que representa,
una Nacion bajo Dios,
entera,
con libertad y justicia para todos."

German:

"Ich gelobe Treue auf die Fahne der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika, auf die Republik, die eine Nation unter Gott ist, vereinigt durch Freiheit und Gerechtigkeit fur alle."

French:

J'engage ma fidélité au drapeau des États-Unis d´Amérique et à la République qu'il représente, une nation sous Dieu, indivisible, avec liberté et justice pour tous."

Below are various U.S. and Washington State flag graphics available for download. Please note that using the state seal independent of the state flag without permission is a violation of state law (view the statutes governing the use of the State Seal).

To save the files, right-click on the link and choose "Save link as"

According to RCW 9.86.020 "No person shall, in any manner, for exhibition or display:

(1) Place or cause to be placed any word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing or advertisement of any nature upon any flag, standard, color, ensign or shield of the United States or of this state, or authorized by any law of the United States or of this state; or

(2) Expose to public view any such flag, standard, color, ensign or shield upon which shall have been printed, painted or otherwise produced, or to which shall have been attached, appended, affixed or annexed any such word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing or advertisement; or

(3) Expose to public view for sale, manufacture, or otherwise, or to sell, give, or have in possession for sale, for gift or for use for any purpose, any substance, being an article of merchandise, or receptacle, or thing for holding or carrying merchandise, upon or to which shall have been produced or attached any such flag, standard, color, ensign or shield, in order to advertise, call attention to, decorate, mark or distinguish such article or substance."

No manufacturer of the flag of the state of Washington shall offer for sale said flag without first submitting a reproduction of said flag in duplicate to the Office of Secretary of State, State of Washington. Upon approval of design and color selection, the Secretary of State shall return one of the flags marked "approved" and keep the second flag on file in his or her office.

WAC 434-04-017 Description of seal for use on state flags. (1) Each flag shall have official identical seals, one on each side of the flag, and so placed that the center of each seal shall be centered on each side of the flag. The seal may have a serrated edge;

(2) The size of the seal to be used shall be in proportion to the size of the flag as follows:

In all the other instances, the ratio of the seal diameter to the length of the flag shall be 1:3; and the ratio of the flag height to flag width shall be 1:1.6;

(3) The following color references for textiles are by cable number in the Standard Color Reference of America, Tenth Edition of The Color Association of the United States, Inc., New York, New York

(4) All textile colors shall be of colorfast washable dyes;

(5) The flag may be flown or displayed in its entirety as described herein; the state seal shall not be expropriated from the flag for any other use and such expropriation is regulated by the statutes (chapter 43.04, RCW) and administrative rules (chapter 434-04, WAC) governing the use of the Washington state seal.


[Statutory Authority: RCW 43.04.040 and 34.05.350. 05-15-018, § 434-04-017, filed 7/7/05, effective 8/7/05. Statutory Authority: RCW 43.04.040(4). 89-20-031, § 434-04-017, filed 9/29/89, effective 10/30/89.]

The United States Flag: Federal Law Relating to Display and Associated Questions

Section 173: Display and use of flag by civilians; codification of rules and customs; definition

The following codification of existing rules and customs pertaining to the display and use of the flag of the United States of America is established for the use of such civilians or civilian groups or organizations as may not be required to conform with regulations promulgated by one or more executive departments of the Government of the United States. The flag of the United States for the purposes of this chapter shall be defined according to sections 1 and 2 of Title 4 and Executive Order 10834 issued pursuant thereto.

Section 174: Time and occasions for display; hoisting and lowering

a. It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flag staffs in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed twenty-four hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.

b. The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously.

c. The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is inclement, except when an all weather flag is displayed.

d. The flag should be displayed on all days, especially on:

New Year's Day - (January 1)
Inauguration Day - (January 20)
Lincoln's Birthday - (February 12)
Washington's Birthday - (third Monday in February)
Easter Sunday - (variable)
Mother's Day - (second Sunday in May)
Armed Forces Day - (third Saturday in May)
Memorial Day {half-staff until noon} - (last Monday in May)
Flag Day - (June 14)
Independence Day - (July 4)
Labor Day - (first Monday in September)
Columbus Day - (second Monday in October)
Navy Day - (October 27)
Veterans Day - (November 11)
Thanksgiving Day - (fourth Thursday in November)
Christmas Day - (December 25)
Other days as may be proclaimed by the President of the United States
Birthdays of States (date of admission)
State holidays

e. The flag should be displayed daily on or near the main administration building of every public institution.

f. The flag should be displayed in or near every polling place on election days.

g. The flag should be displayed during school days in or near every schoolhouse.

Section 175: Position and manner of display

The flag, when carried in a procession with another flag or flags, should be either on the marching right; that is, the flag's own right, or, if there is a line of other flags, in front of the center of that line.

a. The flag should not be displayed on a float in a parade except from a staff, or as provided in subsection (i) of this section.

b. The flag should not be draped over the hood, top, sides, or back of a vehicle or of a railroad train or a boat. When the flag is displayed on a motorcar, the staff shall be fixed firmly to the chassis or clamped to the right fender.

c. No other flag or pennant should be placed above, or, if on the same level, to the right of the flag of the United States of America, except during church services conducted by naval chaplains at sea, when the church pennant may be flown above the flag during church services for the personnel of the Navy. No person shall display the flag of the United Nations or any other national or international flag equal, above, or in a position of superior prominence or honor to, or in place of, the flag of the United States at any place within the United States or any Territory or possession thereof: Provided, That nothing in this section shall make unlawful the continuance of the practice heretofore followed of displaying the flag of the United Nations in a position of superior prominence or honor, and other national flags in positions of equal prominence or honor, with that of the flag of the United States at the headquarters of the United Nations.

d. The flag of the United States of America, when it is displayed with another flag against a wall from crossed staffs, should be on the right, the flag's own right, and its staff should be in front of the staff of the other flag.

e. The flag of the United States of America should be at the center and at the highest point of the group when a number of flags of States or localities or pennants of societies are grouped and displayed from staffs.

f. When flags of States, cities, or localities, or pennants of societies are flown on the same halyard with the flag of the United States, the latter should always be at the peak. When the flags are flown from adjacent staffs, the flag of the United States should be hoisted first and lowered last. No such flag or pennant may be placed above the flag of the United States or to the United States flag's right.

g. When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height. The flags should be of approximately equal size. International usage forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another nation in time of peace.

h. When the flag of the United States is displayed from a staff projecting horizontally or at an angle from the window sill, balcony, or front of a building, the union of the flag should be placed at the peak of the staff unless the flag is at half-staff. When the flag is suspended over a sidewalk from a rope extending from a house to a pole at the edge of the sidewalk, the flag should be hoisted out, union first, from the building.

i. When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the union should be uppermost and to the flag's own right, that is, to the observer's left. When displayed in a window, the flag should be displayed in the same way, with the union or blue field to the left of the observer in the street.

j. When the flag is displayed over the middle of the street, it should be suspended vertically with the union to the north in an east and west street or to the east in a north and south street.

k. When used on a speaker's platform, the flag, if displayed flat, should be displayed above and behind the speaker. When displayed from a staff in a church or public auditorium, the flag of the United States of America should hold the position of superior prominence, in advance of the audience, and in the position of honor at the clergyman's or speaker's right as he faces the audience. Any other flag so displayed should be placed on the left of the clergyman or speaker or to the right of the audience.

l. The flag should form a distinctive feature of the ceremony of unveiling a statue or monument, but it should never be used as the covering for the statue or monument.

m. The flag, when flown at half-staff, should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flag should be again raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day.

On Memorial Day the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff. By order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory. In the event of the death of other officials or foreign dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to Presidential instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law. In the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any State, territory, or possession of the United States, the Governor of that State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff.

The flag shall be flown at half-staff thirty days from the death of the President or a former President; ten days from the death of the Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives; from the day of death until internment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice President, or the Governor of a State, territory, or possession; and on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress. The flag shall be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day, unless that day is also Armed Forces Day.

As used in this subsection -

1. the term "half-staff" means the position of the flag when it is one-half the distance between the top and bottom of the staff;

2. the term "executive or military department" means any agency listed under sections 101 and 102 of title 5; and

3. the term "Member of Congress" means a Senator, a Representative, a Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner for Puerto Rico.

n. When the Flag is used to cover a casket, it should be so placed that the union is at the head and over the left shoulder. The flag should not be lowered into the grave or allowed to touch the ground.

o. When the flag is suspended across a corridor or lobby in a building with only one main entrance, it should be suspended vertically with the union of the flag to the observer's left upon entering. If the building has more than one main entrance, the flag should be suspended vertically near the center of the corridor or lobby with the union to the north, when entrances are to the east and west or to the east when entrances are to the north and south. If there are entrances in more than two directions, the union should be to the east.

Section 176: Respect for flag

No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.

a. The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.

b. The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.

c. The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free.

d. The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker's desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.

e. The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way.

f. The flag should never be used as a covering for a ceiling.

g. The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.

h. The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.

i. The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkin or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown.

j. No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.

k. The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.

Section 177: Conduct during hoisting, lowering or passing of flag

During the ceremony of hoisting or lowering the flag or when the flag is passing in a parade or in review, all persons present except those in uniform should face the flag and stand at attention with the right hand over the heart. Those present in uniform should render the military salute. When not in uniform, men should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Aliens should stand at attention. The salute to the flag in a moving column should be rendered at the moment the flag passes.

Section 178: Modification of rules and customs by President

Any rule or custom pertaining to the display of the flag of the United States of America, set forth in section 171-178 of this title, may be altered, modified, or repealed, or additional rules with respect thereto may be prescribed, by the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, whenever he deems it to be appropriate or desirable; and any such alteration or additional rule shall be set forth in a proclamation.