Blue Triangle

• The left side of the Ohio state flag is taken up primarily by a large blue triangle. The blue triangle is representative of all of the valleys and hills that make up the state.
  
  

Red and White Stripes

• The blue triangle on the Ohio state flag rests against a repeating pattern of three horizontal red stripes and two horizontal white stripes. The stripes in alternating colors were designed to represent Ohio’s roads and waterways. There are five of them because Ohio is one of five states from the original Northwest Territory.
  
  

Stars and Circle

• Seventeen white stars sit inside the blue triangle on the Ohio state flag. They represent the fact that Ohio was the 17th official state in the union. The blue triangle also contains a large red dot circled with a white border. This represents the ‘O’ in Ohio as well as the buckeye that makes up the state’s nickname.