To celebrate Indiana’s Centennial in 1916, the Daughter’s of the American Revolution sponsored a competition to design a state banner. Paul Hadley of Mooresville, Indiana, a respected Hoosier artist of the time, created the winning design. It featured a flaming torch surrounded by stars.
This design for the state banner was adopted by the Indiana General Assembly in 1917. The name was changed from state banner to state flag by the 1955 General Assembly.
The Indiana State flag is blue with nineteen stars and a flaming torch in gold or buff. The torch in the center stands for liberty and enlightenment; the rays extending from the flames represent their far-reaching influence. Thirteen stars form an outer circle that surrounds the torch… these represent the thirteen original states.
The five stars in a half circle under the flame represents the next states admitted prior to Indiana. The nineteenth star, the largest on the flag, is located just above the flame of the torch, representing Indiana, the nineteenth state to join the union.
