Utah Legislature approves new state flag

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is set to have a new state flag after the state Legislature approved SB31 on Thursday.

The bill will designate a new state flag — one selected by the Utah State Flag Task Force on Nov. 10 and updated by the Utah Senate on Jan. 30 — while making the current flag the “historical state flag.”

The bill passed the House with a 40-35 vote Thursday morning. One item that was mentioned during the debate was the bill’s fiscal note, which noted a one-time expense of $3,000 for Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson’s office, which said it can absorb that cost, and $0 in ongoing costs.

BREAKING: Senate has passed the changes to SB31. It will head to Gov. Cox's desk for signing.

Here's a look at your new flag and the historical one #utpol pic.twitter.com/qLq3eSUmA1

— Carter Williams (@cwilliamsKSL) March 2, 2023

“Enactment of this legislation likely will not materially impact state revenue,” the note stated.

The Senate previously approved SB31 and voted on minor changes Thursday afternoon, passing it 18-9 and sending it to Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk.

Among the minor updates was changing the current state flag’s designation from “ceremonial” to “historical” and removing a potential new license plate featuring the flag.

New state flag design

The new flag design features a beehive on a blue hexagon with a gold trim on horizontal bands of blue, white and red. Originally, it featured an eight-point star to represent the eight federally recognized Native American tribes in Utah.

However, a constituent said it looked more like an asterisk, which the constituent said is what many Native American people feel as a result of the government.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, unveiled an updated design with a five-point star before the Senate voted 17-10 in favor of the bill.

The five-sided star represents both hope and 1896, the year Utah became a state, according to the amended description of the flag in McCay’s bill.

The bill will go into effect on March 9, 2024, if signed by the governor.

Building the new flag

Designers said they worked to combine the top two designs after receiving public feedback on the task force’s top five.

More than 44,000 Utahns — representing every county — submitted feedback surveys on the 20 semifinalist designs, which were selected from over 5,000 submissions. Each of the top five featured some form of critique.

“For example, southern Utah residents preferred rich, deep reds over oranges to represent the region’s distinctive red rock landscape, while Tribal leaders encouraged stars or other representations of the state’s eight sovereign nations,” the task force said.

“We are extremely pleased with the public response,” David Wicai, director of strategic initiatives at the Utah Department of Cultural and Community Engagement, told KSL.com, noting that almost every single ZIP code in Utah is represented in the feedback. “It seems that Utahns are pretty invested in selecting our next state flag and providing their feedback on what will work and what will represent Utah best.”

My message to skeptical Utahns: The ceremonial flag isn’t going away; instead, we’ll fly it on special occasions and official holidays.

We can have both. We can celebrate both.

— Lt. Gov. Deidre M. Henderson (@LGHendersonUtah) November 10, 2022

The task force said the foundational blue, similar to the current flag’s background, suggests natural resources, such as lakes and the sky, and principles such as knowledge, freedom and optimism.

The gold rim around the beehive represents strength and unity while the rugged white band represents Utah’s mountain landscapes and peace.

Finally, the red along the bottom evokes the red rocks of southern Utah.