OKLAHOMA, FLAG OF

U.S. state flag consisting of a blue field (background) with a bison-hide shield, an olive branch, and a calumet (Native American peace pipe) above the name of the state in white lettering. Oklahoma adopted its first state flag in 1911. 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. A new flag was adopted on April 2, 1925. It consisted of a blue field bearing the traditional bison-hide shield of the Osage Indians. The artist Louise Funk Fluke developed the flag based on a suggestion made by Joseph Thoburn of the Oklahoma Historical Society. The blue background of Fluke's design symbolized loyalty and devotion, and the shield suggested the defense of the state. The shield bore small crosses, which stood for stars (as is common in Native American art), and the olive branch and calumet were included as emblems of peace for whites and Native Americans, respectively. On May 9, 1941, the name of the state was added to the background of the original flag. The legislature of Oklahoma made clear specifications for the colour shades of the flag on November 1, 1988. Whitney Smith History Early habitation and European exploration Of the newer states, Oklahoma is one of the oldest in terms of human occupation. The abundant game of its plains attracted hunters of the Clovis and Folsom cultures 15,000 to 10,000 years ago. Others followed, producing between AD 500 and 1300 a golden age of exquisite pottery, textiles, sculpture, and metalware. Evidence indicates a widespread system of trade and communication. This high culture apparently fell before the onslaught of primitive peoples from the western plains, and until the expedition of Francisco Vzquez de Coronado in 1541 the region's population included representatives of at least three major Indian language groups. Coronado claimed the area for Spain, but it became little more than a highway for wide-ranging Spanish explorers. In 1714 Juchereau de Saint Denis visited Oklahoma, and other Frenchmen subsequently established a fur trade with the Indians. France and Spain struggled for control until 1763, leaving only the natives to contest Spanish authority until the return of the French flag in 1800. Three years later, through the Louisiana Purchase, Oklahoma was acquired by the United States. American dominion As one of the purchase's most attractive partsbecause of trade opportunitiesthe area might well have become one of its first states; but it was, in fact, the last. Because of hostile Indians, Spanish intrigue, the mislabeling of its treeless plains as the American Desert, and the pressure for removal of the Indians from the settled East, the U.S. Congress in 1828 reserved Oklahoma for Indians and required all whites to withdraw. By 1880 more than 60 tribes had joined the local ones in Indian Territory. Some were sedentary, peaceful, agricultural, and semi-Europeanized; others were migratory and belligerent. Indian Territory consisted of five republics, or nations, with fixed boundaries, written constitutions, courts, and other governmental apparatus similar to those of the Eastern states. The major difference was that in each republic all land was held jointly or in severalty by an individual tribe. The first major threat to these governments came when, as former allies of the South during the American Civil War, they were placed under military rule during the Reconstruction period. The Reconstruction treaties required, among other things, land cessions to the former slaves, the resettlement of additional outside tribes, and railroad rights-of-way. Although a scheme to colonize free blacks in Oklahoma never materialized, the weakness of the Indian governments encouraged both blacks and whites from adjoining states to trespass. Thus, the territory again became a dumping ground for Indians and an even greater cultural hodgepodge of red, white, and black people.