Why Does Nevada's Flag Look So Empty?

The Nevada flag is much like the state itself — a largely empty area with most of the action in one of the corners. Yet the design we know today reflects our common character and was greatly influenced by the Civil War.

🧐 What Does Nevada’s Flag Look Like?

The canton (the part in the upper left-hand corner) consists of a single star, two branches of sagebrush, the word “Nevada,” and an emblem that says “Battle Born.” The rest is a single shade of cobalt blue.

⛏️ What Does it Mean?

The star represents Nevada’s mining history, sagebrush is the official state plant, and the “Battle Born” motto reflects our statehood being granted as the Civil War raged on. The blue is meant to be the same shade as the official U.S. flag and represents loyalty to the Union.

⌛ When Did Nevada Adopt Its Flag?

The Nevada territory became a state in 1864 — a rush job to help ensure the reelection of President Abraham Lincoln. However, Nevada didn’t get around to adopting a state flag for another 40 years; in part because individual state pride was somewhat frowned upon in the years immediately after the Civil War.

🪡 The Governor Designed the First One

There have been four official Nevada flags. The first was pretty basic — the words “Gold,” “Nevada,” and “Silver” with 36 stars to mark our status as the 36th state in the nation. Designed by Governor John Sparks and Colonel Henry Day, it lasted from 1905 to 1915.

🧵 Three More to Get it Right

A second version, from 1915 to 1929, had a more colorful picture as the centerpiece with the words “All For Our Country.” An early version of the flag we know today became official in 1929 and was replaced with the current one in 1991 — smoothing out the images and changing the position of the word “Nevada,” which initially ran clockwise around the star. Either way, state employee and archeologist Louis Shellback gets the credit for the design after winning a contest.

🖐️ But Wait … There’s One More

Nevada is one of sixteen states that gives the governor a flag of his or her own. The one in Nevada is pretty similar to the state flag, but has the canton moved to the center with four individual stars in each corner — and to be honest, I kinda like this version better. Maybe we should switch things up again 🤔