The Colorado Flag consists of three horizontal stripes of the same dimension. The top and bottom stripes are blue, the same color blue that is used in the United States Flag. The center stripe is white. On top of the blue and white background is a large, red letter C. The center portion of the C if filled with a gold disc.

The blue represents the beautiful blue skies you’ll find in the state. The white represents the snow capped mountains and the gold disc is intended to represent the sunshine that the state of Colorado enjoys. Finally, the red used for the C represents the earth.

The original flag design was done by Andrew Carlisle Johnson in 1911, however, there are differences between Johnson’s design and the current design. In his design, the letter C was only as big as the white center stripe. The original design also required that the flag was always to have a cord of intertwined gold and silver with same colored tassels attached to it.

The exact colors of blue and red were not determined until a later date. This caused a lack of color consistency in the Colorado flags being made. That inconsistency was viewed as unacceptable by the General Assembly of 1929. They decided that the blue and red tones would be the same as that used in the United States flag. The C continued to be no taller than the white stripe.

In 1964 the legislature moved to change this. They determined that the the gold center disc would be the same height as the white stripe and that the diameter of the red C would be two-thirds of the width of the flag. These adjustments brought about the Colorado flag that we see today.

The exact details describing the design of the current Colorado State Flag are stated in the Colorado Revised Statutes Title 24, Article 80, Part 9 which state:

“A state flag is hereby adopted to be used on all occasions when the state is officially and publicly represented, with the privilege of use by all citizens upon such occasions as they may deem fitting and appropriate. The flag shall consist of three alternate stripes to be of equal width and at right angles to the staff, the two outer stripes to be blue of the same color as in the blue field of the national flag and the middle stripe to be white, the proportion of the flag being a width of two-thirds of its length. At a distance from the staff end of the flag of one-fifth of the total length of the flag there shall be a circular red C, of the same color as the red in the national flag of the United States. The diameter of the letter shall be two-thirds of the width of the flag. The inner line of the opening of the letter C shall be three-fourths of the width of its body or bar, and the outer line of the opening shall be double the length of the inner line thereof. Completely filling the open space inside the letter C shall be a golden disk; attached to the flag shall be a cord of gold and silver intertwined, with tassels one of gold and one of silver.”