N8JIW – Don

Shaker Heights, Ohio

The flag of Ohio is the only flag in the United States that is a not a rectangle shape.  The flag was adopted in 1902 after it was designed for the 1901 Pan-American Exposition.  The flag contains a large blue triangle that represents the hills and valley of Ohio.  The strips on the fly symbolize the roads and the water ways.  The five strips also represent Ohio as one of the five states that made up the Northwest Territory.  Inside the blue triangle there are seventeen stars representing that Ohio was the 17th state admitted into the Union.  To the left of the center circle there are thirteen stars to symbolize the original 13 colonies of the United States.  The White circle with red center represents the first letter of the states name but also the states nickname “the Buckeye State”.

The nickname for Ohio is The Buckeye State. Partly because many buckeye trees once covered Ohio’s hills and plains. The name buckeye stems from native Americans – Indians called the nut “hetuck” (meaning buck eye, as the markings on the nut resemble the eye of a deer).