WABBASEKA — It’s everywhere.
It rips in the wind in front of schools, city halls, courthouses and other municipal buildings across the state.
It’s been flown on battleships and is worn as a tiny pin on the lapels of many Arkansas politicians.
Through the years, its image has graced everything from postcards and baseball caps to coffee mugs and T-shirts.
The Arkansas flag - quintessential symbol of the Natural State, the one that tells the rest of the world who Arkansans are and where they’re from - turns 100 on Tuesday.
To honor the flag’s creator, Willie K. Hocker of Wabbaseka, the Arkansas Legislature has declared Tuesday “Willie Kavanaugh Hocker Day.”
A schoolteacher, poet and artist, Hocker died in 1944 but left a lasting impression on the small Jefferson County town 18 miles northeast of Pine Bluff.
Wabbaseka native and author Jason Irby, now of North Little Rock, said he plans to establish a memorial to honor Hocker and will gather with others in his hometown on Tuesday to announce more details. The event will be held at 10 a.m. at City Hall.
There is already a small historical marker in front of the Wabbaseka United Methodist Church noting that Hocker designed the Arkansas flag. She was a member of the church for much of her life, though few today know anyone who is related to her. A search for descendants turned up none.
Irby said Hocker left an impression on the city’s history.
“This is really something that, if we publicize it properly, could help put us on the map,” Irby said. “It’s an important part of our history, but also the state’s as well. This is something I feel very passionate about.”
In Pine Bluff, a small exhibit on Hocker’s life and her Arkansas flag design is on display at the Jefferson County Historical Museum.It notes that the story behind the Arkansas flag begins with a battleship commissioned in 1912: the USS Arkansas.
According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, the Pine Bluff chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution decided to present the new ship with an official state flag that would fly high atop the mast as she sailed overseas.
Problem was, Arkansas had no flag, chapter members soon learned when they contacted the secretary of state’s office.
The members urged Secretary of State Earle W. Hodges to hold a flag-design contest. He agreed.
Hocker, a member of the Pine Bluff Daughters of the American Revolution chapter, entered and won, beating out 64 other contestants.
Her original design didn’t include the state’s name - that was added a short time later by the design committee and has been considered by some historians as unnecessary.
Hocker’s design started with a simple background of red. On a diamond-shaped blue band, she placed 25 white stars to signify that Arkansas was the 25th state.
The diamond signifies that Arkansas is the only state where diamonds are mined, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture.
Hocker placed three blue stars on the white background in the center to represent the three nations - France, Spain and the United States - whose flags had flown over the state, the encyclopedia notes.
The Arkansas General Assembly adopted this design as the official state flag on Feb. 18, 1913, and it was signed into law on Feb. 26 by Arkansas Gov. Joe T. Robinson.
According to a historical account of the flag provided by David Ware, state Capitol historian, officials first presented the flag in public at the 1913 Arkansas State Fair.
Hocker christened it with a bottle of radium-infused water from Hot Springs, “then grasped the halyard and hoisted the state flag aloft before a crowd of some 20,000,” the historical account notes.
The flag remained unchanged until 1923, when the legislature added a fourth star to the diamond to represent the Confederacy. At first, there were two stars above the name and two below, but legislation in 1924 positioned a Confederate star above the state’s name and the original three below it, according to the encyclopedia.
Ware called Hocker’s flag design “a screaming success,” noting that “our flag is distinctive, and admiring it does not require that one understand which star stands for Michigan or for the Confederacy or the order of states’ admission to the Union. It is distinctive, it is loved.”
Ware said he was disappointed that the design committee “tinkered” with Hocker’s original submission.
Her design was “elegant and spare,” he said. “The subsequent changes with her formulation complicated the symbolic scheme and threatened to make the appearance clumsy, but Hocker’s final suggestions as to arrangement of the stars restored the balanced elegance.”
Though Arkansas adopted its official flag after the commissioning of a battleship, other states have had a hodgepodge of reasons for creating their own, said Nevada vexillologist James Ferrigan. Vexillology is the study of flags.
He said National Geographic was one of the biggest motivators for some states to create a flag.
“Between 1876 and 1917, they began publishing special editions featuring state flags, and everyone wanted to be a part of that,” Ferrigan said. “Then you had the patriotic clubs, such as the Daughters of the American Revolution who wanted to promote this kind of thing.”
Also, the 1893 World Exposition in Chicago created the desire for states to present distinctive symbols of their people, he said. Most state flags were adopted between 1893 and World War I.
Back in Wabbaseka, Irby has pledged the first $500 toward a monument honoring both Hocker and the USS Arkansas. It will be located at the city park, which sits beside U.S. 79 not far from Hocker’s marker at the Methodist church.
Irby attended the school where Hocker taught for several decades and said his pledge “is part of my efforts to honor Hocker’s memory and to give something back to the community where I grew up.”
“My hometown ... is really a special part of my life,” Irby said. “I want to do my part to assure that the heritage of Wabbaseka and its people are remembered in Arkansas history.”
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 02/25/2013