| Commonwealth of Pennsylvania | |
| Use: | 110000 |
| Proportion: | 27:37 (both 2:3 and 3:5 in use) |
| Design: | A state coat of arms on a blue field |
The flag of Pennsylvania consists of a blue field on which the state coat of arms is displayed.
On April 9, 1799, the Pennsylvania General Assembly authorized the use of the state coat of arms on flags for the state militia.[1] These flags took various forms, most commonly featuring the coat of arms either replacing the field of stars in the union of the US flag, or being placed alone on a field of blue. The depiction of the coat of arms would also vary from flag to flag, as the colors in the escutcheon of the arms were changed in 1809, and the color of the horses was not standardized until 1875.[2]
The legislature eventually chose to create a standardized flag for general use, featuring a now-standardized coat of arms alone on a plain field of blue mandated to be the "same color as the blue field in the flag of the United States".[3] This new flag was enacted by law on June 13, 1907.[4]
The Pennsylvania flag has been criticized for the complexity of its design, and its inability to stand out from other similar state flags across the US. Several attempts have been made by the Pennsylvania legislature and the public to address these criticisms by changing or altering the flag.
In 2001, the North American Vexillological Association surveyed 100 of its members and 337 members of the general public on the designs of the 72 U.S. state, U.S. territorial and Canadian provincial flags. The survey ranked Pennsylvania's flag 57th out of the 72, with a score of 3.69 on a scale of 0 to 10.[5] Its low ranking was attributed to both the complexity of the coat of arms on its design, and its inability to stand out among a sea of similar “seal on a bedsheet” designs common to more than half of U.S. state flags.[6]
Between 2004 and 2014, several attempts were made to add the word "Pennsylvania" to the state flag. According to former State Representative Tim Solobay (who introduced the first set of bills), this was intended to make Pennsylvania's flag more unique and identifiable.[7]
While the bill failed to leave committee in the first two sessions it was introduced,[8] [9] a 2006 survey offered by Solobay's office[10] to help refine the defined design may have swayed legislators to act on the bill, which was amended on May 7, 2007.[11] On June 11, 2007, The Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill, 164–31. The Senate State Government Committee never considered the bill, which died at the end of the Pennsylvania General Assembly's two-year session.
The bill was reintroduced by Solobay in 2009,[12] and on the next session day, a second similar bill was introduced by former State Representative Gary Haluska with a competing definition of the design.[13] Neither bill was raised in committee that session. Haluska's proposal was reintroduced alone in both the 2011–12[14] and 2013–14 sessions,[15] and died in committee both times.
In 2017 the "Keystone Flag" was designed by Tara Stark,[16] a Pennsylvania resident.[17] The flag incorporates a keystone symbol, the de-facto state emblem of Pennsylvania, into a tricolor design using the colors on the coat of arms of Pennsylvania[18] as an intentional callback to the symbolism of the existing flag.[19]
The flag gained popularity in online vexillological circles, winning multiple online contests, and began receiving wider attention following high-profile changes to the flag of Mississippi and the flag of Utah. The design was formally released into the public domain in August 2022. Stark launched a Kickstarter campaign in November 2022 to print flags and create other merchandise featuring the design, raising more than $4,500, and the design later began being sold by multiple unrelated manufacturers. It has since seen more popular use, notably including on a lapel pin worn by one state legislator,[20] and has been referenced by multiple media outlets.[21] [22] [23]
On June 16, 2023, Pennsylvania State Representative Joe Webster released a memorandum proposing a commission to "study the history of the state flag, solicit design submissions for a new state flag, and recommend changes to the state flag."[24] To this end, House Resolution 163 was introduced on June 27, 2023.[25]