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Spokane Tribe - Washington (U.S.)

Native American

image by Donald Healy, 31 January 2008

The band
The flag

See also:

The Band

map image by Peter Orenski based on input from Don Healy

Spokane - Washington

The Spokane Reservation, in western Washington, is home to the Spokane, an inland Salish-speaking people related to the Flathead, Coeur d’Alene, and similar tribes (ENAT, 252).

The Flag

The flag of the Spokane Tribe is the banner from the Tribe’s 1981 centennial (photos supplied by Jim White). The flag has a yellow-orange field bordered in red. In the upper center of the flag is a multi-colored oval shield, hanging from it are two white-and-black eagle feathers. In the shield’s center, the phrase "100 YEARS" appears on a blue background, the number in yellow and the word in black. This inner oval is ringed by white, red, and tan bands. The white band is serrated; the outermost band is tan and bears "SPOKANE TRIBE" above and six black dots below.

"CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION", in red, overlaps the bottom of the tan border, underlined by red arrows pointing outward. To the left and right of the feathers, in black, are "1881" and "1981". Across the bottom of the flag, overlapping the feathers’ tips, is "CENTURY OF SURVIVAL" in green. Although the banner dates from the 1981 celebration, the Spokane continue flying it as their official tribal flag. This appears to be the sole instance among tribal flags where a celebration banner evolved into a flag.

[Thanks to NAVA member Jim White, who examined the flag outside the tribal headquarters in Wellpinit, Washington in 1996.]

© Donald Healy 2008
information provided by Peter Orenski, 31 January 2008