Wednesday 6 July 2016

By Kelly Rodgers


West Virginia was admitted to the Union as a Free State with the confirmation that in present state the servitude would be eliminated. President Lincoln endorsed the statehood bill for West Virginia on January 1, 1863. On April 20, 1863, West Virginia has declared a State, viable 60 days, after the fact on, June 20, 1863.

Around the coat of arms is a wreath of the big laurel (Rhododendron maximum), which was designated the state flower in 1903. The following year the big laurel was featured on the obverse side of a flag made to represent West Virginia at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, held in St. Louis, Missouri.

The following year, 1904, St. Louis, Missouri staged an exposition, "The Louisiana Purchase Exposition," also know as the Saint Louis World's Fair. West Virginia needed to send a flag to the exposition to represent itself. A white flag with blue borders that featured the State flower on the obverse side (front) and the West Virginia coat of arms on the reverse side (back) was created.

This flag was not an official representative of the State of West Virginia when it appeared at the exposition, but on February 24, 1905, the West Virginia Legislature made it so. Evidently, this design sparked some discontent and, two years, later on, February 25, 1907, changes were officially approved. The coat of arms was moved to the obverse side (front) of the flag and the big laurel was moved to the reverse side (back) of the flag.

One further change was made in the state flag, on March 7, 1929. Because of the expense and difficulty of manufacturing a double-sided flag, the legislature voted to frame the state arms with branches of big laurel and to show the same emblem on both sides of the flag.

There is a barrage of cheap and inferior West Virginia flags being imported and sold, that do not comply with the flag statute. This is bad for a number of reasons. Imported flags are cheaply made and more importantly, the designs, materials, colors, and methods of printing do not compare well with the better quality, longer-lasting, and correctly designed flags made by American manufacturers. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of West Virginia flag for the future.




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