Kansas is a constituent state of the United States of America. Its boundary extends Nebraska to the north, Missouri to the east, Oklahoma to the south, and Colorado to the west. Lying at the center of the westward-rising landscape of the Great Plains of the North American continent, Kansas became the 34th state on January 29, 1861.
In the flag history of Kansas, the distinction between the so-called “state banner” and the “state flag” was quite unusual. On February 27, 1925, a state banner was first adopted consisting of the name of the state written above the state seal and set on a background of blue. The seal was framed by a sunflower as the state floral emblem and adopted in 1903 . On June 30, 1953, the state banner was very much simplified, transforming to blue with a large sunflower blossom along with a brown centre and gold petals. However, none of these banners were used extensively.
In the history of the state flag, the first one was adopted on March 23, 1927 representing the state on official occasions. The flag showed the state seal without the inscriptions on its outer edge. Also, above was the crest of Kansas as used by its National Guard, a naturalistic sunflower over a heraldic torse (wreath) of yellow and blue. The design was not much appreciated and complaints were raised that the flag design was so cliche and not much distinguishable with other states. In 1961, the state name was added below the seal in large golden letters along with necessary modification.
