The flag of the state of Montana consists of the image of the Montana state seal centered on a blue field.
Within the seal, a plow, shovel, and pick rest in a field in front of the Great Falls of the Missouri River. The ribbon contains the state motto, "Oro y plata" (Spanish for: "Gold and silver"). The current flag was adopted in 1905, and the word "Montana" above the seal was added in 1981. In 1985, the flag was again modified to specify the font used in "Montana." Before it was adopted as a state flag, it was used by Montana troops deploying for the Spanish/American War.
North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) declared the flag of Montana to be the third worst state/provincial flag, 70th in a field of 72 in a list that contained all the provinces of Canada, U.S. states and U.S. territories. Georgia's flag was named the worst, but has since been changed, and Nebraska's flag was named second worst.
Famous quotes containing the words flag of and/or flag:
“Swift blazing flag of the regiment,
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die.
Point for them the virtue of slaughter,
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lie.”
—Stephen Crane (1871–1900)
“My dream is that as the years go by and the world knows more and more of America, it ... will turn to America for those moral inspirations that lie at the basis of all freedom ... that America will come into the full light of the day when all shall know that she puts human rights above all other rights, and that her flag is the flag not only of America but of humanity.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)