| State of Michigan | |
| Use: | 110000 |
| Proportion: | 2:3 |
| Design: | A state coat of arms on a blue field. |
| Nickname2: | Flag of the governor of Michigan |
| Use2: | Flag of the governor of Michigan |
| Design2: | Coat of arms of Michigan on a white field |
The flag of the state of Michigan is a coat of arms set on a dark blue field, as set forth by Michigan state law.[1] The governor has a variant of the flag with a white field instead of blue one.[1] The state has an official flag month from June 14 through July 14.
The state coat of arms depicts a blue shield, upon which the sun rises over a lake and peninsula, and a man with a raised hand, representing peace and holding a long gun, representing the fight for state and nation as a frontier state.[2]
As supporters, the elk and moose are derived from the Hudson's Bay Company coat of arms, and depict great animals of Michigan. The bald eagle represents the United States, which formed the state of Michigan from the Northwest Territory.[3]
The design features three Latin mottos. From top-to-bottom they are:
It is one of nine U.S. state flags to feature an eagle, alongside those of Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wyoming.
The present flag, adopted in 1911, is the third state flag. The first flag featured a portrait of Michigan's first governor, Stevens T. Mason, on one side and the state coat of arms on the other. The first flag is completely lost, and no images of it exist, as far as anyone knows. The second flag, adopted in 1865, displayed the state coat of arms on one side and the United States coat of arms on the other.[4]
The North American Vexillological Association, in its 2001 survey of U.S. state, U.S. territorial, and Canadian provincial flags rated the current Michigan flag 59th out of 72 flags evaluated. The survey respondents gave an average score of just 3.46 out of a possible 10 points.[5]
In November 2016, a bill was introduced in the Michigan state legislature by Senator Steven Bieda that would have provided for a flag commission to head up a public design contest to change the current state flag,[5] but it was ultimately unsuccessful.[6] Establishing a flag commission was proposed again in 2021, by Representative Andrea Schroeder. The measure was referred to committee, where no action was taken on it.[7] In 2023, representative Phil Skaggs proposed a bill to redesign the state flag, but no action has been taken on it since.
Michigan's pledge of allegiance to the state flag was written by Harold G. Coburn and was officially adopted in 1972.[8]