Flag Shape

Did you know there is only one state in the United States that has a non rectangular shaped flag? The flag starts wider on the left, getting narrower on the right side. Instead of a straight edge on the right, it has two points. It is red, white, and blue, with five red-and-white stripes on the right side.

The left side has a dark blue triangle, in the center of which is a red-and-white circle surrounded by 17 white stars. The 13 stars surrounding the circle pay homage to the original 13 colonies, and the four stars to the right of it bring the number up to 17, representing Ohio’s admission to the Union as the 17th state. The large blue triangle represents Ohio's hills and valleys, and the stripes represent roads and waterways. The circle in the center evokes the “O” for Ohio, in addition to slightly resembling a buckeye seed (since Ohio is “the Buckeye State”). 

Seven Random US Facts

The seven rays on the crown of the Statue of Liberty represent the seven continents. Each measures up to 9 feet in length and weighs as much as 150 pounds.


Broken shackles lie at the feet of the Statue of Liberty, signifying freedom from oppression and tyranny.


More breakfast cereal is made in Battle Creek, Michigan than in any other city in the world.


Montana has three times as many cows as it does people.


Alaska is 429 times larger than Rhode Island, but Rhode Island has a significantly larger population.


Louisiana has 2,482 islands that cover nearly 1.3 million acres.

Although Ohio is listed as the 17th state in the U.S., it is technically 47th because Congress forgot to vote on a resolution to admit it to the Union until 1953.
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Michigan Map Names

University of Michigan alum go to great lengths to taunt their sports rivals. One particularly astute grad, state highway commission chairman Peter Fletcher memorialized his on Michigan’s official state map in 1978.

He asked a cartographer to add two towns to nearby Ohio. Thus the fictitious towns of Goblu and Beatosu were created. The map can be seen on the official michigan.gov web site. It noted that after the hoax was discovered, new maps were issued, minus the bogus towns. A few collector item maps remain in the public and copies are also available in the official Michigan archives.

Fletcher noted in a 2008 interview that he placed the fake towns in Ohio, safely outside Michigan state lines. “We have no legal liability for anything taking place in that intellectual swamp south of Monroe,” he said. He added that he had never forgiven Ohio for the Toledo War of 1835.