flag of Tennessee
{{short description|U.S. state flag}}
{{use mdy dates|date=November 2021}}{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox flag
| Name = State of Tennessee
| Image = Flag of Tennessee.svg
| Nickname = The Tri-Star Flag
| Use = 110000
| Symbol = {{FIAV|110000}}{{FIAV|normal}}{{FIAV|Mirror}}
| Proportion = 3:5
| Adoption = {{Start date and age|1905|4|17}}
| Design = A blue circle with three white five-pointed stars on a rectangular field of red, with a strip of white and blue on the fly.
| Designer = Col. Le Roy Reeves{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/ancestralsketche00reev/page/n11/mode/1up?view=theater|title=Ancestral sketches by Reeves, Le Roy, 1876-1960|website=archive.org}}
}}
The flag of Tennessee is the official flag of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The flag displays an emblem on a field of red, with a strip of blue bordered by white on the fly. The emblem in the middle consists of three white stars on a blue circle also with a white border. The central emblem portion of the flag has been adopted as the state's unofficial logo, and appears in the logos of some Tennessee-based companies and sports teams. Examples include the First Horizon Bank and the Tennessee Titans. It is quite common, however, to mess up the aforementioned emblem. The most common of these are tilting the formation of the stars too far to the right, and putting the stars in a un-tilted downward-facing triangle formation.{{Cite web |title=Reddit - r/TriStarFails |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/TriStarFails/?rdt=45561 |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=www.reddit.com}}
In 2001, the North American Vexillological Association surveyed its members on the designs of the 72 U.S. state, territorial, and Canadian provincial flags and ranked the Tennessee flag 14th.{{cite newsletter |date=2001-06-10 |title=New Mexico Tops State/provincial Flags Survey, Georgia Loses By Wide Margin |url=https://www.nava.org/docs.ashx?id=806240 |url-status=live |magazine=NAVA News |publisher=North American Vexillological Association |volume=34 |pages=4-5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606033347/http://www.nava.org/Flag%20Design/State%26Provincial%20Survey%202001/surveyresults.htm |archive-date=2011-06-06 |access-date=2021-11-10 |author-first=Ted |author-last=Kaye |number=2 Issue #170 |df=mdy-all}}
History
In 1897, Tennessee adopted a red, white, and blue tricolor.{{cite web|url=https://www.wkrn.com/tennessee-225/the-tri-star-flag-whats-behind-the-beloved-emblem/|title=The Tri-Star Flag: What's behind the beloved emblem|last=Huff|first=Caitlin|date=January 6, 2021|work=WKRN.com|access-date=February 14, 2023}} The three bars were deliberately slanted in an effort to represent the geographically distinct regions of Tennessee. The flag included the number "16", Tennessee having been admitted as the 16th state of the Union, and the words "The Volunteer State", the state's official nickname.
The current flag was designed by Colonel Le Roy Reeves,{{Cite book |last=Reeves |first=LeRoy |url=https://archive.org/details/ancestralsketche00reev/page/n11/mode/1up |title=Ancestral sketches |date=1951 |publisher=Lynchburg, Va. : J.P. Bell |others=Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center}} a Johnson City attorney who was then serving in the Tennessee National Guard.{{cite archive |first=LeRoy |last=Reeves |type= |item-id= |item-url= |date= |page= |pages= |fonds=AppMs-9 |series=[https://archives.etsu.edu/repositories/2/top_containers/5265 Tennessee state flag material] |file= |box=2 |collection=LeRoy Reeves Papers |collection-url=https://archives.etsu.edu/repositories/2/resources/170 |repository=Archives of Appalachia |institution=East Tennessee State University |location=Johnson City, Tennessee |oclc= |accession= |ref=AppMs-9}} (Accessed November 10, 2021.) The Tennessee General Assembly officially adopted the flag on April 17, 1905.{{cite book |last=Darnell |first=Riley C. |url=http://state.tn.us/sos/bluebook/05-06/45-symbols.pdf |title=Tennessee Blue Book |publisher=State of Tennessee |year=2006 |location=Nashville, Tennessee |pages=515–516 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723220926/http://state.tn.us/sos/bluebook/05-06/45-symbols.pdf |archive-date=Jul 23, 2015}}
Description
=Symbolism=
File:Flag of Tennessee at Opryland Hotel, Mar 2019.jpg ]]
The stars represent the three geographically and legally distinct Grand Divisions of Tennessee (i.e. East, Middle, and West Tennessee). The blue circle around the stars represents the unity of those grand divisions. The blue bar at the edge of the flag was just a design consideration. When asked about the blue bar, Reeves stated "The final blue bar relieves the sameness of the crimson field and prevents the flag from showing too much crimson when hanging limp." In October 1917, National Geographic erroneously reported the stars represented the state as the third to enter the Union after the original thirteen.{{cite web |url=https://tn.ngb.army.mil/tnmilitary/MainPages/tn%20state%20flag.htm |title=Tennessee State Flag |access-date=2007-10-26 |publisher=Tennessee Military Department |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080114192856/https://tn.ngb.army.mil/tnmilitary/MainPages/tn%20state%20flag.htm |archive-date=2008-01-14 }}
=Star arrangement=
State law dictates exactly how the central emblem is to be displayed on the flag.
{{Blockquote|The arrangement of the three (3) stars shall be such that the centers of no two stars shall be in a line parallel to either the side or the end of the flag, but intermediate between the same; and the highest star shall be the one nearest the upper confined corner of the flag.}}
In 1976, the U.S. Postal Service issued a sheet of 13 cent stamps illustrating U.S. state flags. Tennessee's was illustrated upside down.{{Cite web |date=February 2008 |title=Knoxville Philatelic Society News |url=http://www.stampclubs.com/news/knoxville/nlfeb08.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716125923/http://www.stampclubs.com/news/knoxville/nlfeb08.pdf |archive-date=Jul 16, 2011 |access-date=2010-02-12 |website=stampclubs.com}}
Government flags
{{See also|Flags of governors of the U.S. states}}
Alongside the state flag, there are other flags used by the government of Tennessee. The flag for the governor of Tennessee has been in use since 1939. It is a scarlet flag, with four stars, one in each corner, and the state military crest, a tree with three white stars, in the center. The Tennessee General Assembly has its own flag as well.
{{clear}}
Other flags
{{gallery|mode=nolines|whitebg=y|height=100
|Tennessee 1861 proposed.svg|Proposed flag (1861) {{FIAV|Proposal}}
|Flag_of_Tennessee_(1897–1905).svg|Flag of Tennessee
(1897–1905) {{FIAV|historical}}
|Flag of the Governor of Tennessee.svg|Flag of the governor
|Flag of the General Assembly of Tennessee.svg|Flag of the General Assembly
}}
Gallery
File:Tennessee Bicentennial 13c 1976 issue.jpg|The flag of Tennessee as depicted in the 1976 bicentennial postage stamp series.
File:Hot Air Balloon Jubilee Festival, Decatur, Alabama.png|A state flag themed hot air balloon at Jubilee Festival, Decatur, Alabama, May 2010.
File:Tennessee Flag Tornado 1998.jpg|The Tennessee state flag which flew over the Capitol during the Tornado outbreak of April 15–16, 1998. The middle emblem was ripped out during the storm. This flag is on display at the Tennessee State Capitol.
See also
{{Portal|Tennessee}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150623111754/http://www.tn.gov/sos/bluebook/index.htm Tennessee Blue Book 2013-2014]
- [https://archives.etsu.edu/repositories/2/resources/170 LeRoy Reeves in the collection of the Archives of Appalachia in Johnson City, Tennessee]
{{US state flags}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flag Of Tennessee}}