Flag, USS Arkansas

 
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USS Arkansas flag after conservation.
Flag, USS Arkansas
USS Arkansas flag after conservation.
USS Arkansas flag after conservation.

Flag, USS Arkansas

Object number2017.005.01.1
Date1938-1945
Associated LocationArkansas
MediumSilk, Cotton, Canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 53 1/2 × 66 1/4 in. (135.9 × 168.3 cm) Framed: 59 1/2 × 73 in. (151.1 × 185.4 cm)
Credit LineOld State House Museum Collection
Terms
    DescriptionThe state flag that flew over the USS Arkansas (BB-33) during World War II. The USS Arkansas served in WWI, however, did not see any action because of America's late entrance into the war, and WWII where it received four battle stars for its service in its participation in the D-Day Invasion at Omaha Beach, its service in France, the bombardment of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and as part of Operation Magic Carpet. In 1912, the Pine Bluff Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) held a contest for the design of a state flag since Arkansas lacked one. Sixty-five designs were submitted to the committee. Pine Bluff DAR Chapter member Willie Kavanaugh Hocker's design was selected as the winner. This flag was then presented as part of the standard colors to the USS Arkansas by the Pine Bluff DAR Chapter. The flag was adopted as the state's official flag by the General Assembly on February 26, 1913.

    Hocker’s winning design consisted of a rectangular red field with a white rhombus diamond in the center bordered by twenty-five white stars on a blue band. Three blue stars, centered on the flag’s horizontal axis on a white field within the rhombus, completed the plan. The three blue stars in the center field held three meanings: first being, that Arkansas had belonged to three countries—France, Spain, and the United States—before statehood; second, representing the Louisiana Purchase, which included present day Arkansas; and third, signifying the creation of Arkansas as the third state from the Louisiana Purchase. The twenty-five white stars represent Arkansas as the twenty-fifth state admitted to the Union, and the diamond represents Arkansas’s status as the nation’s only diamond-producing state.
    Status
    Not on view
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