A flag can be a burgee

by

When Ohio became the 17th state 210 years ago, it did so without an official flag. The War of 1812 raged and still no flag. When the ‘49ers rushed to California, Ohio remained flagless. The Civil War battles of Bull Run, Gettysburg and Petersburg were fought, but Ohio was still without a banner.

Ohio's burgeeThe 20th century would arrive before Ohio got its flag, and it came in a unique shape. While every other state flies a rectangular flag, the Buckeye State opted for a tapered burgee, a style more commonly seen on yachts than statehouses.

A highway marker for John Eisenmann
A highway marker for John Eisenmann

The design was the work of architect John Eisenmann, whose buildings in Cleveland are landmarks. In 1901, when the Pan-American Exposition was held in Buffalo, he created Ohio’s grand structure at the sprawling fair that saluted progress in many fields, including the arts, manufacturing and agriculture.

Besides a large building, the state needed a flag to impress the world, so Eisenmann went to work. He chose the burgee shape, forever marking Ohio as distinctive, and then he loaded it with symbols, which he explained: “The triangles formed by the main lines of the flag represent the hills and valleys as typified in the State Seal, and the stripes the roads and waterways. The stars, indicating the 13 original states of the Union, are grouped about the circle, which represents the Northwest Territory; and that Ohio was the seventeenth state admitted into the Union is shown by adding four more stars. The white circle with its red center, not only represents the initial letter of Ohio, but is suggestive of its being the Buckeye State.”

The Exposition at which the flag first flew is remembered as the site of the assassination of President William McKinley, an Ohioan. He would not live to see his home state officially adopt the flag created for the six-month-long Buffalo event.

U.S. and Ohio flags fly over the state's exhibition building at the Pan-American Exposition
U.S. and Ohio flags fly over the state’s exhibition building at the Pan-American Exposition

That happened in 1902. In January, W.S. McKinnon, speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, introduced a bill to make “the flag of the State of Ohio…pennant-shaped.” The bill went on to describe Eisenmann’s design.

In May, when the bill became law, Ohio finally had a flag – or, rather, a tapered burgee.

James Breig is a veteran author who specializes in history. His most recent book is “Star-Spangled Baseball: True Tales of Flags and Fields” about the links between the sport and flags. He is also the author of a nonfiction book about WWII, "Searching for Sgt. Bailey: Saluting an Ordinary Soldier of World War II" and co-author of "The Mystery of the Multiple Mothers," a novel. All three are available at www.amazon.com. His articles have appeared in newspapers and national magazines, including the Colonial Williamsburg Journal (search for them at www.history.org/journal) and History Magazine. He has won many national awards for his opinion writing, media columns and feature articles.

2 Comments

  1. Beatrice Baxter Croteau

    Is there a way you could send me a copy of this interesting History fact? I am the Flag Chairman for Hendrick Hudson Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and at our meetings I try to give a new and interesting Flag fact every month. After 6 years I am running out of my own ideas! We are located in Hudson, Columbia Ciounty, NY.
    Thank You very much.
    Bea Croteau

    Reply

Leave a Reply