TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Arizona is known as "State 48" because it was the 48th state admitted to the union in February 1912. But did you know our iconic state flag actually predates statehood, when Arizona was still a territory?
"It does really represent the state very well," said KGUN 9 weathercaster Cuyler Diggs. "I love the colors and it's just a powerful flag as well."
Like many Arizonans, Diggs believes the Arizona flag is iconic. It certainly is unique with a star front-and-center and red and gold rays beaming upward.
"It's absolutely beautiful, especially with what we love to call the Crepuscular rays," Diggs said.
That is what the red and gold rays represent. The same Crepuscular rays we sometimes are lucky enough to see here in Arizona.
"That's a lot of times why they're so prevalent here in Southern Arizona because obviously we have a lot of dust in our atmosphere," explained Diggs. "But on a humid day, where we've got a lot of moisture in the atmosphere, that'll help really show those up as well. We see that a lot during monsoon."
So, who came up with the design for the Arizona flag? For that answer, you have to go all the way back before statehood, when Arizona was a territory.
The National Guard rifle team from the Arizona Territory went to a national competition in 1910. They were the only team without a flag.
Statehood was in the works, but no one had thought to design a flag. So they set out to design one.
Col. Charles Harris, Adjutant General and Chief Administrative Officer of the territory, came up with the design. Arizona's colors are blue and gold, the colors of the Spanish conquistadors.
The top half of Harris's flag featured thirteen gold and red rays representing the sun, and the thirteen original colonies. In the center of the flag was a single, copper-colored star representing Arizona's copper mining industry. The blue bottom is said to represent the Colorado River.
In the colonel's design, a single red band ran horizontally across the center of the flag. A distracting feature, it was quickly removed.
Betsy Ross is credited with making the U.S. flag with the 13 stars arranged in a circle. Arizona's Betsy Ross was Nan Hayden, wife of rifle team member Carl Hayden.
Her first version of Arizona's flag was alongside the rifle team at the 1911 competition, and as Arizona competed as a state team after 1912.
Her husband Carl Hayden organized the Arizona National Guard in 1903. He went on to be a member of Arizona's first Congressional delegation, serving in the U.S. House and then the Senate until his retirement in 1969.
Back to Col. Harris's Arizona flag. It was adopted by the Arizona state legislature as the state's official colors in February of 1917.
But for some reason, the legislature decided to deviate from Harris's original design which featured seven gold and six red rays. The adopted design has six gold and seven red rays. No one seems to know why the change was made.
Now, 115 years later, and the Arizona flag remains a symbol of the strength and beauty of our state and it remains Absolutely Arizona.
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Pat Parris is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9. He is a graduate of Sabino High School where he was the 1982 high school state track champion in the 800 meters. While in high school and college, he worked part-time in the KGUN 9 newsroom. Share your story ideas and important issues with Pat by emailing pat.parris@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
