Oklahoma’s first official state flag was adopted in 1911, four years after statehood. It consisted of a red field with a five-pointed, white star outlined in blue. The number 46, in blue, denoting Oklahoma’s position as the 46th state, was placed in the star’s center. The flag was designed by Mrs. W. Ruth Clement of Oklahoma City, and several items from Clement were included in the Oklahoma Century Chest (buried in 1913 and unearthed in 2013). Mrs. Clement donated a flag she made, a certificate of adoption of her flag design, and a hand-written message in which she expressed her hopes that the state flag would never be changed.
Oklahoma was actually rather socialist in those days, note the motto’s reference to “labor”.
However, due to the rise of Anti-Socialist sentiment following WWI and the Communist Revolution in Russia, Oklahoma decided to change the flag out of fear of being further targeting by the federal government. Thus, a new flag was designed by Louise Fluke and adopted as the official state flag in 1925 (a blue field that bears an Osage shield and other symbols).
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