Who is the woman on the Virginia flag?

She is Virtus, the Roman personification of virtue and courage. She is shown with a spear and sword, standing over the figure of Tyranny.

What does Sic Semper Tyrannis mean?

It is Latin for "thus always to tyrants". It is the Virginia state motto and appears on both the state seal and the flag.

What is the meaning behind the Virginia flag?

The flag shows virtue triumphing over tyranny. Virtus has defeated Tyranny, whose crown has fallen and whose chain is broken. It is a symbol of liberty from the era of the American Revolution.

Did Virginia change its flag?

The main design has been in use since 1861. A 1930 law standardized the colors and details, but the state has not adopted a different flag.

What was Virginia called before 1776?

Before independence it was the Colony and Dominion of Virginia. Today the state is still nicknamed the Old Dominion.

Virginia Flag: Virtus, Sic Semper Tyrannis & History

The Virginia flag is a deep blue field with a white circle in the center. Inside it, the warrior woman Virtus stands over a fallen figure of Tyranny, above the motto "Sic Semper Tyrannis".

What the Virginia flag looks like

The Virginia state flag is a dark blue rectangle with a white circle at the center. The circle holds the obverse of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth. A woman in a short tunic, with one breast bare in the style of an Amazon warrior, stands with a spear in her right hand and a sword in her left. Her foot rests on the chest of a man lying face up, who has a broken chain in one hand and a whip in the other, with a fallen crown nearby.

The Latin words Sic Semper Tyrannis are written below the figures, and the word Virginia appears above them. The flag is usually seen with white fringe on the edges, and its proportions are 3:2.

Virginia flag meaning and symbolism

The woman is Virtus, the Roman personification of virtue. The man beneath her stands for tyranny, and the broken chain and the crown at his side show that he has been overthrown. Together they present the state as a defender of liberty against despotism.

The motto Sic Semper Tyrannis means "thus always to tyrants". The imagery was designed in 1776, at the time of the American Revolution, and it was a direct statement against British rule. The unusual imagery is why many people ask who the woman on the flag is.

History of the Virginia flag

The Great Seal was prepared in 1776, with George Wythe among the people who worked on the design, and the seal was used on state papers for many decades. The blue flag with the seal was approved in 1861. In the following decades it was used mostly by the militia.

The flag law was revised in 1930, which fixed the colors, the dimensions and the way the seal is drawn. Since then the design has stayed the same. Virginia was known as the Colony and Dominion of Virginia before 1776, and it still uses the nickname Old Dominion. To see its place among other states, visit the U.S. state flags page, or compare with West Virginia, which separated from it in 1863.