History of the Arkansas State Flag


In this Section:
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Flag Designer

Flag Designer

History of the flag Desecration
Pledge to the State Flag

Display with Other Flags
Flag Designer During Mourning Periods
Description of Care Use on Boats
Retirement Ceremony County Formation Dates
Proper Display Order of States' Admission
Story of the Flag  

The Mother of the Arkansas Flag:

Willie Kavanaugh Hocker

Willie Kavanaugh Hocker was born on July 21, 1862, in Madison County, Kentucky. Her parents were Captain William Kavanaugh Hocker and Virginia Frances Brown Hocker.

The family moved to a plantation in north Jefferson County, Arkansas, near what is now Altheimer, after the Civil War.

Miss Hocker was visiting friends in Pine Bluff when she designed what later turned out to be the winning entry for the Arkansas Flag. For the design, Miss Hocker used school drawing paper and watercolors.

Miss Hocker was a public school teacher in Pine Bluff and Jefferson County for 34 years, always stressing Arkansas history. She was a member of the First Christian Church in Pine Bluff and the Pine Bluff Chapter DAR as well as several other ancestral and literary societies.

She retired from the classroom to a cottage in Wabbaseka, Arkansas, where she died on February 6, 1944. She is buried in the Hocker family plot at Bellwood Cemetery.


Notices
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Calendar
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Locations
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Arkansas Secretary of State Executive Office

State Capitol
500 Woodlane Avenue, Suite 256
Little Rock, AR 72201
501-682-1010

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Business & Commercial Services (BCS)

Victory Building
1401 W. Capitol Avenue, Suite 250
Little Rock, AR 72201
888-233-0325 or 501-682-3409
corprequest
@sos.arkansas.gov

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