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Washington County, Arkansas (U.S.)

image by Zachary Harden, 22 February 2022

Description of the flag
Seal
Sheriff's Department

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

Municipal flags in Washington County:

See also:

Description of the Flag

Several county offices on the corner of College and Dickson, Fayetteville, fly flags. From what I saw, a county flag does exist. The flag is a seal on a white background with the seal being about 5/6ths of the flag's width. The flag I saw was approximately 3x5 foot. The reconstruction of the flag above uses the seal from ehs.uark.edu/Images/WashingtonCountySeal1.gif.
Zachary Harden, 5 November 2010

Seal

image by Zachary Harden, 24 January 2023

On January 22, 2023, the seal for Washington County was changed to add 11 more stars to the seal. This was made to represent all of the towns and cities in the county. From the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jan/22/despite-concerns-over-similarities-to-anti):

FAYETTEVILLE -- Washington County's justices of the peace spent much of their first meeting of 2023 discussing the meaning and importance of symbols.

The Quorum Court met Thursday with six new members taking their seats for the first time. Among the items they considered was an ordinance adding a ring of 13 stars to the county seal adopted in 1982 that shows a representation of the historic county courthouse. The justices of the peace approved the ordinance by a vote of 10-4, with justices of the peace Shawndra Washington, Beth Coger, Suki Highers and Evelyn Rios Stafford voting against the ordinance.

County Judge Patrick Deakins said the 13 stars represent the 13 cities in Washington County and show the county's appreciation of the cities and a desire to work closely with them. The seal will be affixed to county property and vehicles and will appear on official documents and correspondence.

Questions were raised about the symbolism of the circle of stars, with Highers, Coger and others saying the design resembles some used by anti-government groups. "I think this is a big deal," Coger said. "Words are important. Perception is important. Appearances are important. People are going to connect the seal with those hate groups."

Washington said she didn't believe there was anything "nefarious" intended by the proposed changes but suggested the county could reconsider the design in light of the concerns raised. "Let's go back to the drawing board to see what we can to do commemorate the 13 cities of Washington County," she said.

Justice of the Peace Sean Simons bemoaned the "frivolity" of the discussion, calling it "a complete waste of time." After the meeting Deakins said he was approached by people about the proposed new county seal before Thursday night's meeting, but he did not share the concerns they raised. He said the conduct of Washington County will be what gives meaning to the seal. "People can read what they want to into anything," Deakins said."

What the above concerns with the 13 stars, while not stated in the article, the 13 star pattern used in the Betsy Ross design has been one of several flags that have been used by groups that lean right-wing in the terms of politics and social issues and some see the 13 star pattern was tainted (https://www.newsweek.com/betsy-ross-flag-meaning-history-racist-1447174 for reference).

Currently, the seal we have on the website is used for the county flag. I am not sure when the transition begins and I would assume the county flag will change as well with this seal change, New seal pattern is taken from the above news article.

Zachary Harden, 24 January 2023

Earlier Seal

image located by Paul Bassinson, 22 December 2017

Image source: static.lakana.com
Paul Bassinson, 22 December 2017

Sheriff's Department

image located by Paul Bassinson, 6 October 2021

Image of the flag of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office can be obtained from https://www.facebook.com/WashingtonCoSO/photos/10165291805560257
Paul Bassinson, 6 October 2021