Flag of Nebraska

The flag of the U.S. state of Nebraska, was adopted in 1925. It features a blue field with the Nebraskan state seal at its center, rendered in gold and silver colors. The flag was adopted following the introduction of a bill by Representative J. Lloyd McMaster in the Nebraska House of Representatives.

In 1925, the legislature ratified the design as a state banner. It was officially designated as the state flag in 1963, making Nebraska one of the last states to adopt an official flag.

State law regulates the design of the Nebraska state flag, specifying its official form as follows:

A reproduction of the great seal of the state, charged on the center in gold and silver on a field of national blue.

The Nebraska state seal was formally adopted in 1867. It features several symbols: a steamboat ascending the Missouri River; the mechanical arts, represented by a blacksmith with hammer and anvil; agriculture, represented by a settler’s cabin, sheaves of wheat, and stalks of growing corn; and a train of railroad cars heading toward the Rocky Mountains. At the top of the seal is Nebraska’s state motto: 'Equality Before the Law'.

The Nebraska state flag was officially adopted in 1925. However, the state seal, which appears on the flag, was designed in 1867 and had already appeared on unofficial state banners prior to 1925, sometimes on a yellow field. For instance, in 1916, the people of Lincoln presented the 4th Nebraska Infantry with a new regimental flag to replace their old one. This flag featured a blue field with the state seal in the center and the inscription “4th Nebraska Infantry” beneath it.

The first known references to a state flag appeared in 1896, with another mention occurring in 1906. Both designs are unknown.

In 1915, the Nebraska Sons of the American Revolution endorsed the idea of adopting a state flag.