On 21 May 1968, the flag was adopted by the Navajo Nation Council. This flag was designed by Jay R. Degroat, a student from Mariano Lake, New Mexico and was initially selected from 140 entries for the Navajo Flag Competition.
It incorporates elements of the tribal seal designed by Amos Frank Singer and John Claw, Jr. adopted earlier, on 18 January 1952.
The North American Vexillological Association listed the Navajo flag in its book Good Flag, Bad Flag under the description: "Over 20 graphic elements overwhelm the viewer and none are large enough to be seen easily."[2]
On a field of Navajo white (pale buff, tan, or copper field, sources differ), four sacred mountains of four different colors (black, white, turquoise, and yellow from the Navajo creation story) surround the center element of the flag, a map of the Navajo Nation with a white disk in the center that features elements from the Navajo tribal seal.[1] The overall flag recalls sand painting, an art form used by the Navajos.
A rainbow symbolizing Navajo sovereignty appears over the main design.[3]
In 1995, the Navajo flag became the first Native American tribal flag in space when Bernard Harris carried it aboard the space shuttle Discovery.
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