Today, the flag of Kentucky and Tennessee fly in commemoration of the Bluegrass State’s admission to the Union as the 15th state on June 1, 1792 and the Volunteer State’s admission to the Union as the 16th state on June 1, 1796, respectively.
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky adopted its flag on March 26, 1918 and standardized on June 14, 1962. Kentucky Revised Statutes § 2.030 (1) defines the state flag as follows: “The official state flag of the Commonwealth of Kentucky shall be of navy blue silk, nylon, wool or cotton bunting, or some other suitable material, with the seal of the Commonwealth encircled by a wreath, the lower half of which shall be goldenrod in bloom and the upper half the words “Commonwealth of Kentucky,” embroidered, printed, painted, or stamped on the center thereof. The dimensions of the flag may vary, but the length shall be one and nine-tenths (1 9/10) times the width and the diameter of the seal and encirclement shall be approximately two-thirds (2/3) the width of the flag.”
Tennessee
Designed by Colonel Le Roy Reeves, the Tennessee state flag was adopted by the Tennessee General Assembly on April 17, 1905. Tennessee Code Annotated § 4-1-301 (a) defines the flag as follows: “The flag or banner of this state shall be of the following design, colors and proportions, to wit: an oblong flag or banner in length one and two-thirds (1⅔) times its width, the principal field of same to be of color red, but the flag or banner ending at its free or outer end in a perpendicular bar of blue, of uniform width, running from side to side, that is to say, from top to bottom of the flag or banner, and separated from the red field by a narrow margin or stripe of white of uniform width; the width of the white stripe to be one-fifth (⅕) that of the blue bar; and the total width of the bar and stripe together to be equal to one-eighth (⅛) of the width of the flag. In the center of the red field shall be a smaller circular field of blue, separated from the surrounding red field by a circular margin or stripe of white of uniform width and of the same width as the straight margin or stripe first mentioned. The breadth or diameter of the circular blue field, exclusive of the white margin, shall be equal to one-half (½) of the width of the flag. Inside the circular blue field shall be three (3) five-pointed stars of white distributed at equal intervals around a point, the center of the blue field, and of such size and arrangement that one (1) point of each star shall approach as closely as practicable without actually touching one (1) point of each of the other two (2) around the center point of the field; and the two (2) outer points of each star shall approach as nearly as practicable without actually touching the periphery of the blue field. The arrangement of the three (3) stars shall be such that the centers of no two (2) stars shall be in a line parallel to either the side or end of the flag, but intermediate between same; and the highest star shall be the one nearest the upper confined corner of the flag.”
Cruesbreck Flags 