Colonel John H. Fraine introduced a resolution to the North Dakota Legislative Assembly
to adopt a North Dakota state flag that would take the color, size and form of the
regimental flag carried by the North Dakota Infantry in the Spanish American War and the
Phillipine Island Insurrection. The only exception was that the name of the state, North
Dakota, was to be displayed on the scroll below the Bald Eagle Courtesy of the North
Dakota Secretary of State. The North Dakota state flag features a dark blue field
displaying a Bald Eagle grasping an olive branch and a bundle of arrows in its claws.
The eagle carries a ribbon with the words "One nation made up of many states." On its
breast is a shield with thirteen stripes representing the original thirteen states. The
fan-shaped design above the eagle represents the birth of the United States and included
thirteen stars echoing the thirteen stripes on the shield.
The red scroll below the eagle displays the state name, North Dakota. A bill to change
the North Dakota state flag because it too closely resembled the Coat of Arms of the
United States and was not particularly symbolic of North Dakota was introduced and
defeated in 1953.
