The original Utah state flag was adopted by the new state legislature in 1896. This
state flag consisted of a solid white depiction of the Utah State Seal on a light blue
background. This state flag remained in service until the state legislature revised the
statutes in 1913. In 1903, the Utah State Society Daughters of the Revolution presented
a state flag to Governor Heber M. Wells. The silk flag, embroidered by Agnes Teudt
Fernelius, displayed the Utah State Seal. Each member of the USSDR had donated one
dollar to pay for the flag. In October of 1903, it was determined that an error had been
made in the State Seal depicted on the flag and it was also determined that the flag
that had been presented and accepted by the Governor was not an official Utah state flag
but rather would serve as the Governor's regimental flag. An official Utah state flag
would have to comply with an act of the Utah state legislature and thereby be approved
by the state legislature. The USSDR took their flag to artist H.L.A. Culmer and asked
him to make corrections to the Utah state seal.
A new flag was born of this effort and presented to the Governor. The Governor replied
that "It will be my pleasure to display this flag upon every important occasion where
the Governor's flag may be required, both at the World's Fair in St. Louis in
celebration of the Louisiana Purchase and elsewhere during my incumbency." This flag was
used until 1913. In 1912, the Sons and Daughters of Utah Pioneers commissioned a flag to
be presented to the battleship Utah. This flag displayed the Utah State Seal centered on
a blue background and circled by a thin gold line. This flag became the official Utah
State Flag as we know it today when it was approved by the legislature and Governor
William Spry signed the House Joint Resolution in 1913.
