As the second state to join the Union in 1787, Pennsylvania authorized its first State Flag in 1799 composed of the State Coat of Arms on a deep blue field. Containing the elements of the State Seal, the Coat of Arms was that of Provincial Pennsylvania’s Penn family, first appearing on printed money issued by the state in 1777. On it two black draft horses are supporting a shield with an American eagle as a crest and a red ribbon with the words “Virtue, Liberty and Independence†beneath it. On the shield are a ship, a plough, and three sheaves of wheat with a corn stalk and an olive branch below. During the Civil War, Pennsylvania regiments carried the Stars and Stripes, substituting the Pennsylvania Coat of Arms for the field of stars. The legislature further standardized the design in 1907, specifying the blue as the same as “Old Glory.â€
