flag of Washington, D.C.

Following World War I (1914–18), a number of designs were advanced for a flag for the District of Columbia. Among those submitted in February 1924 to the Evening Star newspaper was a white flag bearing two red horizontal stripes and three blue five-pointed stars. The designer, Charles Dunn, based his design on the personal coat of arms of George Washington, which was similar but had red rowels (sharp-pointed disks at the ends of spurs) instead of blue stars. The Washington family arms date to 16th-century Sulgrave, England, but the intended symbolism of the design and colours is unknown.

A special flag commission was established by act of the U.S. Congress in 1938. It considered a version of the Dunn flag (with red stars instead of blue) and another flag with a more complex design submitted by the Daughters of the American Revolution, before choosing the “Washington arms” flag. First flown on October 23, 1938, its usage did not become widespread for another 20 years. It has been suggested that the stars symbolize the three commissioners who once ran the District, or that the Washington family arms were the inspiration for the original U.S. Stars and Stripes; neither assertion has any historical substantiation.