Flag of Oregon
Oregon’s flag is navy blue with STATE OF OREGON, the shield from the state seal ringed by 33 stars, and 1859, all in gold, and a gold beaver on the back. The Oregon Blue Book says 1859 is the year Oregon joined the Union as the 33rd state, and that Oregon’s is the only state flag with a different pattern on each side.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The flag is set by Oregon Revised Statutes § 186.010, amended in 1959; the Oregon Blue Book says it was adopted in 1925. One side is a navy blue field with the state escutcheon in gold, supported by 33 gold stars, the words State of Oregon above it and the figures 1859 below, all in gold. The other side is a navy blue field with a gold beaver. Navy blue and gold are the official state colours. The Blue Book says the utility flag has a plain edge and the dress or parade flag gold fringe. The law gives no proportions and no shades.
Also searched as: flag of oregon, oregon flag, oregon flag meaning, oregon state flag.
The shield, piece by piece
The shield is from the state seal, ORS 186.020. It is divided by a band with the words “The Union”. Above it are mountains, an elk with branching antlers, a wagon and the Pacific Ocean, with a British man-of-war sailing away and an American steamer arriving; below are a sheaf, a plough and a pickaxe; the seal’s crest is the American eagle. The Oregon Legislature explains them: the 33 stars because Oregon was the 33rd state, the eagle peace through strength, the mountains, elk, wagon, ocean, wheat, pickaxe and plough the state and its pioneers, and the departing British ship and arriving American one the claim that no foreign power has fully dominated or governed Oregon.
Telling it from other blue flags with a seal
Everything on the front of Oregon’s flag is gold on navy. Idaho’s flag carries the state seal in colour, with its name on a red band below.
Read next
- Next in US state flagsFlag of WashingtonWashington’s flag is dark green with the state seal in the centre: a portrait of George Washington inside a gold ring reading THE SEAL OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON 1889. The flag law gives the green and the seal no meaning beyond naming them.
- The same shape in South American flagsFlag of BrazilBrazil’s flag is a yellow diamond on green holding a blue globe of 27 white stars, the sky over Rio de Janeiro on the morning of 15 November 1889, crossed by a white band with the motto ORDEM E PROGRESSO (“Order and Progress”). Each star stands for a state or the Federal District; the 1889 flag decree said the green and yellow, kept from the empire, recall the victories of the army and navy.
More US state flags
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with letters and numbers, squares and rectangles or stars.
Sources
- Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 186 (State Emblems; State Boundary), ORS 186.040 and Official Designations note to ORS ch. 186, Oregon State Legislature, ORS 186.010, 186.020
- Oregon Blue Book: Oregon Almanac, Dance to Hops Production, Oregon Blue Book, Oregon Almanac (D–H), Oregon Secretary of State, Flag, State
- Oregon Fun Facts (Oregon State Legislature), Oregon State Legislature, “Oregon Fun Facts”, Oregon State Legislature, State Seal; State Flag
- Idaho Code § 46-801, Idaho Code § 46-801, State flag, Idaho Legislature, § 46-801
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 14, 2026. How we research
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