Nebraska Flag

Located in the heart of the country, Nebraska is one of the states with a history that illustrates two of America's core values: equality and hard work. Named from the French for "broad river, Nebraska was 37th in gaining its statehood. Its history before earning its place as a state is told on the Nebraska flag

The state seal is on the Nebraska flag because the state was one of the last, the 37th to be exact, to be accepted into the Union. Therefore, it was a pretty simple act at the time of transferring the recently established seal onto a flag. The top of the state's seal reads the motto: "Equality before the law." This is one of the ways in which Nebraska's state flag reflects the actual behavior of the state's citizen's.

Nebraska was a key region where civil rights supporters were located and specific actions were taken in the name of equality for all. The DePorres Club was a catalyst for the civil rights movement in Omaha, Nebraska, while at the same time existing as forerunners of the civil rights movement nationally. Club members would conduct sit-ins at racist establishments and provided assistance to the impoverished in the local area.

Thus, the motto on the Nebraska state flag is an apt one while the art on it depicts another aspect of the Montana citizen, past and present: a relentless work ethic. On the state flag of Nebraska transportation, industry, settlement, and agriculture are illustrated on Nebraska's seal. A railroad train in the background, mountains in the distance and a cruising steamboat all fill the seal of Nebraska on the flag.

Nebraska gives its state flag the royal treatment by placing a reproduction of the seal of the state at the center of gold and silver on a backdrop of a rich, national blue color. The Nebraska flag coloring is appropriate considering how richly the state has contributed to its page in history. The meaning of Nebraska's flag is not singular but instead two-fold—the state has stood for equal opportunity and hard work.

What was essential was the work ethic that had to be applied to the civil rights movement, as with anything else within the state that needed progress. How fitting is it that the capital of Nebraska was named after Abraham Lincoln. A man whose role was pivotal in blacks' rights in history, he got to where he did by hard work. Nebraska is truly a place where the values that America was founded on came to fruition.