June 14 is Flag Day. At the Ferguson Home Museum, we hope to have a large American flag, Oklahoma Flag and Watonga Flag flying proudly. On the following Saturday, June 17, a flag ceremony is planned at the Ferguson Museum.
TB Ferguson, the editor of the Watonga Republican and Governor of the Territory of Oklahoma (basically I-44
west) from Nov. 1901January 1906, was a strong proponent of Oklahoma statehood. While Oklahoma was admitted as a state in 1907, the Legislature did not adopt a flag until 1911. It was designed by Ruth D. Clement, a founder of the state branch of the Daughters of the Confederacy and the flag resembled other Confederate flags (Wikipedia. ) The design was not readily accepted by the citizens.
It was a red flag emblazoned with a white star imprinted with the number '46'. Some critics regarded it as a sign of quarantine and Oklahoma soldiers called it a 'socialist rag'. (Oklahoma State Senate). The red background of the flag referred to the Native American population, and its central white-and-blue star and number 46 represented Oklahoma’s admission to the Union as the 46th state. Some citizens, notably the adjutant general of the state, opposed that flag after World War I because of its resemblance to communist banners. (Britanica). This was the Oklahoma State flag during TB Ferguson’s lifetime (died in 1921).
In 1924, Dr. James Thoburn, secretary of the Oklahoma Historical Society, asked the State Regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution to sponsor a contest to find a new design for the state flag. The result was the present state flag designed by Mrs. Fluke, an artist.
The state's current flag was designed 1925 and received approval from the legislature on March 25 of that same year. The newly adopted flag was flown for the first time over the State Capitol on April 2, 1925. The only change to the flag since then was the addition of the word 'OKLAHOMA' in 1941. (Oklahoma State Senate.) These two versions of the Oklahoma flag would have been flown during Mrs. Ferguson’s illustrious career, as she passed in 1947.
Flags of the United States, Oklahoma and Watonga define who we are and what we want to be. Fly your flag on June 14, Flag Day.