South Dakota is a constituent state of the United States of America which contains the geographical center of the United States. South Dakota is the 40th state of the union officially adopted on November 2, 1889. The border of South Dakota extends North Dakota to the borth, Minnesota and Iowa to the east, Nebraska to the south and Wyoming and Montana to the west.
The state senator Ernest May along with the secretary of the state historical society Doane Robinson, developed a flag of South Dakota with the design painted by Robinson’s secretary Ida Anding in the early 20th century. The flag had a sky-blue field consisting of a yellow sun with rays and the name of the state framed up along with its nickname “The Sunshine State”. The design was influenced by the lyrics of a song by Wills Johnson. On July 1, 1909, the new flag became official after the state legislature added a state seal on the reverse side. Due to the expense and complexities of making a double sided flag, state authorities had to amalgamate the two central emblems.
The state legislature approved a new design for both the sides of the flag on March 11, 1963.
The South Dakota seal was on top of the sun but only the sun’s rays were visible along the inscriptions. On July 1, 1992, the flag was modified with the substitution of the old wordings by the new state nickname “The Mount Rushmore State”. The seal includes the name of the state ’South Dakota’, date of admission to the union ‘1889’ and state motto ‘Under God the people rule’. The design center shows a marmer in foreground plowing fields along with the background design including cattle, crops, a smelting furnace and steamship with natural details.