SEPTEMBER 9, 1989

CHEROKEE FLAG ADDS STAR IN MEMORY OF TRAIL OF TEARS

The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma is the largest of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes in the United States. A new national flag was designed by Stanley John and approved by the Cherokee Tribal Council on October 9, 1978. The flag, which flew unchanged from 1978-89, has an orange field with the “Cherokee of the Cherokee Nation” in the center. The seal is surrounded by her seven yellow stars with seven dots. Each star points to the star in the center of the seal. The seven-pointed star represents her seven clans of the Cherokee Nation. The flag was changed in a resolution passed by the Council on September 9, 1989, to add a black seven-pointed star the upper right to represent the light extinguished with the death of those who died in the Trail of Tears. The flag of the Oklahoma Cherokee Nation is not the same as the flag used by the Eastern Cherokee Nation because the seal is different.

Source: “Flag Of The Cherokee Nation: Most Up-to-Date Encyclopedia, News & Reviews,” Academic-accelerator.  Retrieved 11/6/2023, Flag Of The Cherokee Nation: Most Up-to-Date Encyclopedia, News & Reviews (academic-accelerator.com)

Image:  Hosmich, 6/11/2023.  The flag of the Cherokee Nation containing the Great seal of the Cherokee Nation. Permissive Use.