Washington County, Pennsylvania (U.S.)

Last modified: 2024-06-04 by rick wyatt
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image by Dave Martucci, 11 June 2011

• Description of the flag
• Earlier proposal
• County Seal

- indicates flag is known.
- indicates it is reported that there is no known flag.

Municipal flags in Washington County:

• Buffalo Township
• Burgettstown
• Cecil Township
• Charleroi
• Chartiers Township
• Donegal Township
• Hopewell Township
• Independence Township
• Monongahela
• Morris Township
• North Franklin Township
• Peters Township
• Robinson Township
• South Franklin Township
• South Strabane Township
• Union Township
• Washington
• West Bethlehem Township
• West Finley Township
• West Pike Run Township

See also:

• County and Municipal flags of Pennsylvania
• Pennsylvania
• United States of America
  

Description of the Flag

According to a news article published 7 October 1977 in the Washington, PA "Observer/Reporter" (page A-1), the Washington County Bicentennial Commission chairman Charles Chattaway and member Charlotte K. Lane presented a design  for a County Flag to the County Commissioners on 6 October 1977. The flag had been eight months in the design stage and was the conception of Raymond E. Dunlevy of Washington.

The official county seal (minus the encircling rings and inscriptions) was placed in the upper corner of a vertical stripe of purple (said to be taken from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's flag, which is actually blue); no color was given for the seal but the accompanying photo shows it is a very light color, probably golden yellow. The vertical stripe appears to be about a quarter of the total length of the flag in width. The field is comprised of four unequal horizontal stripes described as being blue and green in color. They appear to be in the ratio of 4:1:1:4 in width. The green was to represent the county's fields and the blue to represent the sky. The photo shows the bands in a very light and a medium grey shade so I have interpreted them as light (or sky) blue and green.

The seal is described as "a montage of the county courthouse, a covered bridge, an early settler, and an Indian." It was also designed by Dunlevy. Not mentioned in the article but clearly shown in the photo is the year "1781" in a straight line below the design. This date appears in the bottom curve on the actual seal.

In addition to the flag proposal, the Bicentennial Commission's representatives turned over more than $650 in unused funds to the County Commissioners who accepted the money and the proposal but said they wanted more time to think about the flag before taking any action of its adoption.

Apparently they did not adopt this proposal. A photo of the present County Commissioners (Diana L. Irey, Lawrence O. Maggi, and J. Bracken Burns, Sr.) accessed 11 June 2011 on the County's web site (www.co.washington.pa.us/maindepartment.aspx?menuDept=3) shows a dark blue flag with the County Seal in golden yellow in the center.
Dave Martucci, 11 June 2011

Earlier proposal

image by Dave Martucci, 11 June 2011

County Seal

image by Dave Martucci, 11 June 2011