Senate passes slightly altered design as new Utah state flag

Sen. Daniel McCay, R-Riverton, looks on as Michael De Groote displays a Utah state flag during a meeting of the Utah Senate Business and Labor Committee on Jan. 18. The Utah Senate passed McCay's bill that creates a new state flag during a vote on Monday.

Sen. Daniel McCay, R-Riverton, looks on as Michael De Groote displays a Utah state flag during a meeting of the Utah Senate Business and Labor Committee on Jan. 18. The Utah Senate passed McCay's bill that creates a new state flag during a vote on Monday. (Ryan Sun, Deseret News)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is one step closer to having a new state flag, though it's not exactly the design unveiled late last year.

The Utah Senate voted 17-10 in favor of SB31 on Monday, a bill that would designate a new state flag while classifying the current flag as the state's ceremonial flag. However, the design that passed is an amended version of the flag that was selected by the Utah State Flag Task Force on Nov. 10.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, said he isn't surprised that several senators voted against the bill, contending that he never expected the vote to be unanimous.

"I think everybody's kind of been where they've been the whole time," he said, following the vote. "The nice thing is it's out of the Senate."

McCay unveiled the new flag design along with his substituted bill Monday morning. The new design replaces the original eight-sided star with a five-sided star.

The eight-sided star under the beehive design was mostly meant to represent the eight federally recognized Native American tribes in Utah in addition to hope. The five-sided star now represents both hope and 1896, the year Utah became a state, according to the amended description of the flag in the bill.

While discussing the bill on the Senate floor, McCay said that the five-sided star may also represent the Navajo, Shoshone, Goshute, Piute and Ute tribes, the state's five historic tribes.

A photo of the new Utah state flag proposal unveiled Monday. The new design includes a five-pointed star that replaces an eight-pointed star.
A photo of the new Utah state flag proposal unveiled Monday. The new design includes a five-pointed star that replaces an eight-pointed star. (Photo: Utah Legislature)

He told his colleagues that the change is the result of unintended consequences that the eight-sided star yielded. He explained he was having a conversation with a Native American constituent of his who told him that the star looked more like an asterisk from a distance.

"And this person kind of punched me in the gut when they said 'and you know, our people sometimes feel like an asterisk in American history anyways. The last thing we want is to feel like that on a flag," he said, recalling what the constituent said.

McCay added that the original design could "unwittingly" pull Utah into a "political conversation" over which tribes receive federal recognition, too. He argues the five-pointed star clears up those concerns.

The amended description also states that the white mountain peaks portray "peace and Utah's snowy mountains, the peaks of which symbolize Utah's Indigenous peoples," while the red segment below symbolizes the "red rocks of southern Utah, ... perseverance and the state's unique landscapes."

The amended bill also sets aside a new license plate that follows the state flag redesign, while making no changes to the plan to designate the current state flag as the state's ceremonial design.

Monday's vote came after members of the Senate Business and Labor Committee voted in favor of the design with a 6-1 vote on Jan. 18. It had been tabled in the Senate for a week, as McCay made some adjustments to the bill.

Interestingly enough, at least one lawmaker who voted against the flag is quietly rooting for it. Senate Majority Leader Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, said after the vote that he voted against it because more people opposed it than supported it among surveys of his constituents in southern Utah.

"It's tough for me to take a position. ... It's one of those things (that) I voted against, but I really was cheering that it passed," he said, chuckling.

Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Wood Cross, on the other hand, said he voted for it because he believes in the flag's potential.

He pointed out that several Utah cities have recently updated their flags, which drew similar complaints from people at the time the process began. Many people complained that the government is "wasting" time and that it "isn't important" but now many residents support their new city flags.

Weiler thinks the same will eventually play out for the state flag.

"Sometimes, as leaders, we need to lead out on issues, and sometimes the public takes a year or two to catch up," he said, adding it took him a while to warm up to a new flag himself.

The bill now goes to the House of Representatives, which must vote by March 3. Then it goes to Gov. Spencer Cox's desk for final approval.

Contributing: Katie McKellar

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Carter Williams is an award-winning reporter who covers general news, outdoors, history and sports for KSL.com.

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