Monument To Honor Design Of Oklahoma Flag To Be Built

PONCA CITY, Okla. (AP) Ponca City's centennial committee plans to build a monument to honor the design of the Oklahoma state flag, which was developed by a local woman.<br/><br/>Louise Fluke came up

Saturday, November 25th 2006, 2:27 pm

By: News On 6

PONCA CITY, Okla. (AP) Ponca City's centennial committee plans to build a monument to honor the design of the Oklahoma state flag, which was developed by a local woman.

Louise Fluke came up with the idea for the flag as part of a statewide contest in 1925, and the monument will be part of the Kay County town's celebration of Oklahoma's centennial.

Oklahoma became the nation's 46th state in November 1907. In the state's early years, its flag was a solid red banner emblazoned with a single white star with the number 46.

But after Communists took control in Russia in 1917, Oklahoma's red and white flag became unpopular.

In 1924, the Daughters of the American Revolution began searching for a new design.

Fluke, an art teacher, developed the winning design: a sky blue background and a buckskin Osage tribal shield adorned with seven eagle feathers and crossed with a peace pipe and an olive branch.

The only change to the design since 1925 came in 1941, when the word "Oklahoma" was added to the bottom of the flag.