Nevada’s flag, late in coming, kept changing | Flag of Nevada
The odds are in your favor that the State of Nevada, home of gambling, will change its official flag. After all, it has done so repeatedly.
When President Lincoln signed the document accepting the state into the Union 150 years ago, Nevadans came in waving nothing. As noted on its website, “the Legislature did not adopt the design of the first Nevada flag until 1905, more than 40 years after Nevada entered the Union.”
Gov. John Sparks and Col. Harry Day collaborated on that original – and rather ugly – standard. “It had a blue background with the words ‘Nevada’ in the center, ‘silver’ at the top, and ‘gold’ at the bottom,” says the state’s website. “Thirty-six silver and gold stars represented that Nevada was the 36th state admitted to the Union.”
Want to bet that they kept that one? You lose! Ten years after the first banner, the Legislature “created a new official flag,” designed by Clara Crisler of Carson City. She put 18 gold stars around “Nevada” and 18 silver stars below the words “All for Our Country.” She proudly waved her creation for only 14 years, and then it was time for another Nevada state flag to debut.
In 1929, Don Louis Shellback III came up with the third design. Supplanting Crisler’s gold stars were sprays of sagebrush and a scroll reading “Battle Born” to remind citizens that the state entered the Union during the Civil War.
How much would you wager that Shellback’s flag is the current one? The house wins again because, as the state’s website explains, the “Legislature approved a bill…to alter the way that ‘Nevada’ is depicted on the State flag. Since October 1, 1991,…‘Nevada’ has been positioned underneath instead of interspersed between the points of the star.” Credit for the fourth flag goes to Verne R. Horton.
The Nevada state flag now consists of a deep blue field with symbols placed in the upper left corner: a single silver star; the slogan, “Battle Born,” atop the star; “Nevada” written under the star; and sprigs of sagebrush with bright yellow blooms.
That’s the current flag of Nevada, but the roulette wheel keeps spinning. Given the state’s penchant for regularly swapping its symbol, it should soon be time to alter it.
Also, you’ll need a deep breath to identify the Betsy Ross of Nevada: John Harry Clara Shellback Horton III.