The newest Utah flag has been popping up across the state; it’s already on pins sold online, waved at the Utah State Capitol and decorated welcome signs at the Salt Lake City International Airport. However, it hasn’t actually been an official state symbol, until now.

The new banner was flown for the first time as the official state flag Saturday, on the 113th anniversary of the last flag’s adoption.

Portraying a beehive surrounded by a hexagon and symbols evoking Utah’s iconic mountains, canyons, open skies and a star, the banner is set to replace the flag that was adopted on March 9, 1911, which features the state seal — including an eagle, a much smaller beehive, two U.S. flags and the word “industry” — on a field of blue.

The adoption of the new flag doesn’t mean that the older one will be put to rest, a 2023 news release from Gov. Spencer Cox’s office reads. The 1911 flag will now be referred to as the “historic state flag,” and will be flown along the new banner at all times at the state Capitol and at state buildings on certain holidays.

After a public call for designs, the Legislature gave its nod to the new flag by approving SB31, State Flag Amendments, in March 2023. Shortly after, Cox issued an executive order providing guidance on how to display both state symbols.

“I am grateful for the tens of thousands of Utahns who participated in designing and selecting this new flag,” Cox said in the release about the change. “Just as we have much to be grateful for from our ancestors, I hope that today’s Utahns will be worthy of the mantle that has been placed upon them to preserve and build Utah’s legacy for our children, grandchildren, and generations to come.”

But, that order was met with controversy.

The flag has drawn contention among groups, such as the Are You Listening Yet Political Action Committee, who argue Utahns should be able to vote for their own state flags. A first signature gathering effort to reverse the Legislature’s decision was unsuccessful.

And, more recently, the group sent a letter to Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson that claimed “entire packets of signatures have been inappropriately rejected,” according to the Standard-Examiner, while another PAC filed a federal lawsuit against the lieutenant governor, asking for a time extension because, they said, Utah winters make it difficult for signature gathering.

In addition to those efforts, a House bill that would have repealed the new flag failed this legislative session. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding, would have also established a process in which any similar changes are put on a general election ballot for voters’ consideration.

SB31 went into effect on Saturday regardless of those efforts. Though the groups still have hopes to include a flag reversal proposal in the November general election via a new ballot initiative, the state asked a federal judge to deny the request, as the measure could impact Utah’s election system.

The lawsuit is ongoing.

Utah News Dispatch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news source covering government, policy and the issues most impacting the lives of Utahns.

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