The flag of the state of Michigan is a coat of arms set on a dark blue field, as set forth by Michigan state law.[1] The governor has a variant of the flag with a white field instead of blue one.[1] The state has an official flag month from June 14 through July 14.[2]
Design
The state coat of arms depicts a blue shield, upon which the sun rises over a lake and peninsula, and a man with a raised hand, representing peace and holding a long gun, representing the fight for state and nation as a frontier state.[3]
As supporters, the elk and moose are derived from the Hudson's Bay Company coat of arms, and depict great animals of Michigan. The bald eagle represents the United States, which formed the state of Michigan from the Northwest Territory.[4]
The design features three Latin mottos. From top-to-bottom they are:
On red ribbon: E Pluribus Unum ('Out of many, one'), a motto of the United States.
On light blue shield: Tuebor (transl. I will defend)
On white ribbon: Si Quæris Peninsulam Amœnam Circumspice (transl. If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you), the official state motto.
The present flag, adopted in 1911, is the third state flag. The first flag featured a portrait of Michigan's first governor, Stevens T. Mason, on one side and the state coat of arms on the other. The first flag is completely lost, and no images of it exist, as far as anyone knows. The second flag, adopted in 1865, displayed the state coat of arms on one side and the United States coat of arms on the other.[5]
In November 2016, a bill was introduced in the Michigan state legislature by Senator Steven Bieda that would have provided for a flag commission to head up a public design contest to change the current state flag,[6] but it was ultimately unsuccessful.[7] Establishing a flag commission was proposed again in 2021, by Representative Andrea Schroeder. The measure was referred to committee, where no action was taken on it.[8] In 2023, representative Phil Skaggs proposed a bill to redesign the state flag. It was introduced as House Bill 6190, on November 26, 2024, read a first time and referred to the Committee on Government Operations. The Bill seeks to form a commission of 6 local university artists, 3 professional artists or state historians selected by the Michigan Historical Commission and 8 political appointees to establish a contest to receive public design submissions between January 26, 2025 and July 26, 2025. The flag commission will select a winner by September 26th 2025 and this will replace the current state flag on January 1, 2026.
Pledge
Michigan's pledge of allegiance to the state flag was written by Harold G. Coburn and was officially adopted in 1972.[2]
I pledge allegiance to the flag of Michigan, and to the state for which it stands, two beautiful peninsulas united by a bridge of steel, where equal opportunity and justice to all is our ideal.
