SI Adopts First Official Flag
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PrintThe Smithsonian Institution adopts first official flag. Designed by a committee of staff members and approved by Secretary Carmichael, the flag was to be flown by Smithsonian-sponsored expeditions throughout the world. The field of the flag was royal blue; in the center was the torch of knowledge, above which is the word SMITHSONIAN and below, INSTITUTION. The torch and letters were in gold. "The torch is a motif taken from the present seal of the Institution designed by the great American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens and adopted by the Smithsonian in 1893."
Chronology of Smithsonian History
Torch, 4/1955, p. 1
Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
1955