The celebration for the 100th anniversary of the Iowa state flag is Monday, with events in Knoxville and the state capitol in Des Moines. It was designed by Knoxville native Dixie Gebhardt. T. Waldmann-Williams is part of the organizing committee, and has studied the history of the flag and Iowa extensively. She explains why and how the flag’s colors were incorporated into the design.

“The first flag for our territory was the French flag. The colors of the French flag were red, white, and blue. It was acquired by the Louisiana Purchase. She wanted to put our state name, ‘Iowa,’ in red because it shows courage. Blue is peace and justice, and white is purity. She wanted to make sure that white was the largest section, because that’s the untold story of our country. Yes, we have the history, but the future is also there.”

A proclamation takes place at the state capitol at 10:30 Monday morning with Governor Kim Reynolds. The Knoxville Public Library will host programs and learning sessions at 3:00 that afternoon.