Flag of Colorado

What the flag looks like

Three equal horizontal stripes of blue, white and blue, with a red letter C wrapped around a gold disc, set slightly towards the hoist.

What it means

Blue is for the sky, white for the snow-capped mountains, gold for the state's mineral wealth and sunshine, and red for the earth.

How to remember it

Colorado is blue-white-blue with a giant red C hugging a gold ball, so the flag spells out its own initial.

Fun facts

• "Colorado" is Spanish for "colored red", after the reddish rock and river silt of the region.
• It was designed by Andrew Carlisle Johnson and adopted in 1911.

Colorado at a glance

Nickname

The Centennial State

Statehood

1876

Capital

Denver

Region

Mountain

Population

5.8 million

Area

269,601 km²

Flag adopted

1911