Colorado's iconic state flag was born from a misunderstanding about a forgotten predecessor

Cultures · Published 10 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: When a local women's organization set out to design a state flag in 1910, they were unaware that Colorado already had an official banner. Their resulting design, featuring a bold red C and golden disk, proved so popular that it replaced the original, eventually becoming a ubiquitous symbol of the state.

The current Colorado flag, officially adopted on June 5, 1911, was the brainchild of Andrew Carlisle Carson. Its design is rich with local symbolism: the blue stripes represent the sky, the white stripes signify snowcapped peaks and silver, and the red C honors the state's name and its ruddy earth. The golden disk in the center represents the abundant sunshine Colorado receives, while also nodding to the state's gold mining heritage. Together, the blue and white elements also pay tribute to the columbine, the state flower.

The path to this design was unconventional. A previous state banner, adopted in 1907, had fallen into obscurity, leading a committee of the Daughters of the American Revolution to believe no state flag existed. By the time they realized their error, the 1907 banner was already viewed as defective. Carson’s proposal, which utilized Yale blue and incorporated the C emblem, sailed through the legislature in 1911 with no opposition. Despite its immediate adoption, the original legislation lacked precise specifications for colors and dimensions, leading to decades of inconsistent versions.

It took until 1929 for the General Assembly to mandate that the flag's red and blue match the national colors. Further confusion regarding the size of the central C and gold disk persisted until 1964, when the legislature finally standardized the proportions. Today, the design is deeply embedded in Colorado culture, appearing on everything from highway markers to professional sports uniforms. Its popularity surged in the 2010s, cementing its status as a widely recognized emblem of the state's identity.

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