Thursday, November 9, 2023

Why Did We Need A New State Flag?

Do we need to retire the former state flag? No. Utah’s former state flag will be preserved in an elevated form. It will be flown with the new flag at the Utah State Capitol during official ceremonies, special events, and legislative sessions. As a historical emblem, Utah’s seal will continue to be displayed — and continue to honor our state’s legacy.

Voted on March 2, 2023, to become the new official state flag as of March 9, 2024.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Design Inspired By Thousands of Utahns

In January 2022, Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov.

Deidre Henderson launched the More Than A

Flag campaign, inviting Utahns to share ideas

about what they’d like to see on a new state flag.

More than 7,000 residents from across the state

submitted their ideas before the April 2022 deadline.

Those submissions included some 5,702 flag designs

(2,500 of those from students) submitted from

all of Utah’s 29 counties.

“Think about that: Thousands and

thousands and thousands of Utahns have

joined this conversation,”

said Sen. Dan McCay in June 2022

Deseret News guest opinion essay.

Utah Values, Pride, and Unity

The new Beehive Flag highlights visual symbols designed to serve as a rallying emblem of unity throughout the state. The design incorporates distinctive colors, shapes, and symbols representing the values, history, and aspirations of Utahns, as reported in surveys and design submissions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blue Field

At the top of the design, the blue stripe represents Utah’s wide-open skies and our lakes, as well as core principles such as faith, knowledge, freedom, optimism, and tradition. Blue serves as a backdrop of the design, and is linked to the background of the historic flag.

Mountains

The rugged white stripe represents Utah’s snowy mountain peaks, which have cradled residents — including our state’s eight Tribal nations, who are still here and still thriving — from time immemorial. This color evokes peace and our state’s world-famous snow.

Red Canyons Stripe

The red-rock canyon represents Southern Utah’s majestic landscape, which millions of people from around the world travel to see. The color symbolizes
perseverance, and nods to the red strips of the United States flag, but on the Utah flag the value of the red color is slightly warmer in hue.

Hexagon

A gold rim stands for prosperity, while the hexagon shape – among nature’s strongest shapes — cradles the beehive and represents unity and the strength of Utah’s people.