ARIZONA, FLAG OF

U.S. state flag consisting of red and yellow rays emanating from a copper-coloured star above a horizontal blue stripe. On February 27, 1917, just five years after attaining statehood, Arizona adopted its state flag. Unlike many other state flags, which were based on military colours or other banners flown during the Civil War (186165), Arizona's design was inspired by the state's own natural setting. The rays above the dark blue stripe suggest a colourful Arizona sunset over a desert in shadow, and the central star represents the state as a rich copper-producing area. The star is supposed to be represented in metallic copper but usually is manufactured in an orange-tan shade. The red and yellow are colours from the Spanish flag, recalling early explorers of the area, while the shades of red and blue are the same as those in the Stars and Stripes, indicating American patriotism. The flag was designed by Charles W. Harris, the adjutant general of the Arizona National Guard, and the first copy was sewn by Nancy Hayden, wife of Carl Hayden, who served Arizona in the U.S. Congress for 56 years. Before its adoption in 1917, the flag was carried by the Arizona National Guard rifle team during a trip to Ohio. Whitney Smith History Early settlement Prehistoric peoples Although the region's physical traits may appear inhospitable, even repulsive, to habitation and subsistence, Arizona contains some of the oldest records of human occupation. Relics of material culture are evidence that humans most likely have lived in Arizona for more than 25,000 years. For most of this prehistoric period, these people lived in caves and hunted animals, many species of which no longer exist. Scholars believe that the Cochise culture, made up of people living in what is now southeastern Arizona, began more than 10,000 years ago and lasted until 500 BC or later. During the past 2,000 years, prehistoric societies developed within Arizona that were highly organized and advanced. Many of these Indians lived in durable masonry villages called pueblos (from the Spanish word meaning town or village). Arizona has become one of the most intensively excavated parts of the New World for archaeological research on this period. This group of prehistoric cultures, which are better known than their predecessors, includes the Hohokam, Anasazi, Mogollon, Sinagua, and Patayan. The nomadic Apache and Navajo Indians arrived in the region in the 16th century. The Spanish period The documented record of the European explorers and settlers of this region began in Mexico during the second quarter of the 16th century with Spaniards who wrote about the legend of El Dorado and the Seven Cities of Gold. In 1539 Fray Marcos de Niza, a Franciscan priest, entered Arizona in search of riches and Indians to convert to Christianity. Finding the Indians to be hostile, Fray Marcos returned to Mexico. One year later Don Francisco Vsquez de Coronado led a large, well-armed expedition to Arizona in an effort to claim for Spain what is known today as the American Southwest. Members of Coronado's expedition visited the Grand Canyon and the Hopi pueblos. In 1583, Hopi Indians guided the Spanish explorer Antonio de Espejo to the site of present-day Jerome. He was disappointed to find copper and other nonprecious metal ores instead of the gold he sought. By 1675 several Franciscan missionaries had established themselves at the Hopi villages, but five years later the Hopi revolted and drove the Spaniards out. In the early 1700s Roman Catholic missionaries established churches in the upper Santa Cruz valley in southern Arizona. During this period other Hispanics also settled there. Later in the 18th century priests visited various parts of northern Arizona, including the Hopi villages, but made no serious attempt at religious conversion. After the successful revolution that brought Mexico's independence from Spain in 1821, the new government ordered the missions in Arizona to close. Arizona was ceded to the United States as part of New Mexico in 1848. Following the Gadsden Purchase in 1853, when Mexico sold Arizona's southernmost region to the United States, only a few scattered and isolated Mexican-American ranches, all located near the Mexican border, remained.