Kentucky
The Kentucky state flag was adopted in 1918. It was designed by Jesse Cox Burgess, an art teacher from Frankfort, and features the Bluegrass State’s seal in the center of a navy blue background. The seal features two men, one wearing buckskin, representing the frontiersmen, and the other in a suit, representing the statesmen. It’s believed that these two figures embracing each other also represent the state motto, “United We Stand, Divided We Fall,” that circles them. The seal also includes a goldenrod wreath, goldenrod is the state flower, and the words, “Commonwealth of Kentucky.”
It is widely believed is that the buckskin-clad man is Kentucky’s loved frontiersman, Daniel Boone, one of the first folk heroes of the U.S., and that man in the suit is Kentucky’s most famous statesman, Henry Clay.
Iowa
Iowa didn’t adopt an official state flag until 1921, almost 75 years after it joined to the Union. As the story has it, it was only after stationing state troops along the Mexican border during World War I did it dawn on people the fact that they didn’t have a flag of their own.
The current, tri-color, Iowa flag was created by Dixie Cornell Gebhardt, and it's evident that he designed it with the state's history in mind. The verticle red, white, and blue colors are an ode to the flag of France. The broader white stripe in the center is said to represent the Native Americans that resided in the land prior to it being colonized by Europeans. Finally, the Bald Eagle in the center of the flag symbolizes Iowa’s union and integration into the United States of America. The eagle holds is a blue banner in its beak bearing the state motto: “Our Liberties We Prize, and Our Rights We Will Maintain.”
Kansas
Adopted in 1927, the state flag of Kansas lay on a dark-blue background that includes the state seal in its center and a wild sunflower which is the state flower.
You'll notice that between the sunflower and the seal there's a gold and blue bar that represents the Louisiana Purchase (flashback to high-school history classes) through which Kansas was acquired from France. The seal displays the state motto that tells the story of Kansas, “Ad Astra per Aspera,” a Latin phrase meaning “To the Stars through Difficulties.” The thirty-four stars below the motto remind us that Kansas was the 34th state to be admitted into the Union. The word “Kansas” was added to the bottom of the flag later in 1961.
Louisiana
Before Louisiana was purchased from France by the United States in 1803, the state proudly flew the flags of France, Spain, and Great Britain. There was even a period of two months that Louisiana flew a flag as an independent nation for after seceding from the Union in 1861.
Today, the state flag of Louisiana is beautiful azure blue and what is described as a "pelican in her piety," a heraldic charge that shows a mother pelican "in her nest feeding her young with her blood". This dramatic display is said to signify the state’s willingness to sacrifice itself for its citizens. Louisiana's state motto- "Union Justice Confidence," is also present below.
Maine
The current state flag dates back to 1909. It features the Maine Coat of Arms on a blue field that exhibits a farmer with a scythe and a seaman with an anchor representing Maine’s traditional reliance on agriculture and the sea. There's also a moose resting under a large pine tree pictured.
Between the shield and the North Star is the word, “Dirigo,” the state’s motto meaning “I lead.” there another banner beneath the seal with the"Main".