On January 21，1911，Representative Colonel John H．Fraine introduced H．B．No．152designating an official flag for the state of North Dakota．The legislation specifically required that the flag conform to（符合，遵照）the color，form，and size of the regimental flag carried by the North Dakota Infantry（步兵，步兵团）in the Spanish－American War in 1898and Philippine Island Insurrection（起义）in 1899；the only exception was the name North Dakota placed on the scroll［（使）成卷形］below the eagle．On March 3，1911，the Legislative Assembly adopted the North Dakota state flag．North Dakota Century Code Section 54－02－02describes the state flag in detail．
In 1951S．B．No．156established the North Dakota State Flag Commission to consider changes to the flag（1951S．L．，ch．303）．The commission concluded the flag “too closely resembled the coat of arms of the United States and that the flag was not symbolic of North Dakota”．The commission’s conclusions were widely challenged and its suggested changes rejected．S．B．No．265was introduced during the 1953session and contained the recommendation（推荐）of the flag commission．That legislation was defeated．
North Dakota’s dark blue field displays（陈列，展览，显示）a bald eagle holding an olive（橄榄叶，橄榄枝）branch and a bundle of arrows in its claws．In its beak，the eagle carries a ribbon（缎带）with the words “One nation made up of many states”．The shield on its breast has thirteen stars，representing the original thirteen states．The fan shaped design above the eagle represents the birth of a new nation，the United States．The name “North Dakota”appears on a red scroll（v．（使）成卷形）below the eagle．
State Song州歌
North Dakota Hymn
North Dakota，North Dakota，
With thy prairies wide and free，
All thy sons and daughters love thee，
Fairest state from sea to sea；
North Dakota，North Dakota，
Here we pledge（抵押，典当）ourselves to thee．
Here thy loyal children singing，
Songs of happiness and praise，
Far and long the echoes ringing，
Through the vastness（巨大）of thy ways；
North Dakota，North Dakota，
We will serve thee all our days．
Onward，onward，onward going，
Light of courage in thine eyes，
Sweet the winds above thee blowing，
Green thy fields and fair thy skies；
North Dakota，North Dakota，
Brave the soul that in thee lies．
God of freedom，all victorious（获胜的，胜利的），
Give us Souls serene（平静的）and strong，
Strength to make the future glorious，
Keep the echo of our song；
North Dakota，North Dakota，
In our hearts forever long．
Facts and Trivia相关资料
1．The town of Rugby（橄榄球）is the geographical center of North America．A rock obelisk（［建］方尖石塔，短剑号，疑问记号）about 15feet tall，flanked by poles flying the United States and Canadian flags marks the location．
2．North Dakota passed a bill in 1987making English the official state language．
3．Geologically speaking Hillsboro is located in a large，flat，and ancient dried lake bottom surrounded by some of the most fertile（肥沃的，富饶的，能繁殖的）farmland in the world．
4．Milk is the official state beverage（饮料）．
5．Westhope located on U．S．Highway 83is a Port－of－Entry into Canada．Each year more than 72，000vehicles cross the border at this point．
6．An attempt to drop the word North from the state name was defeated by the 1947Legislative Assembly．Again in 1989the Legislature rejected two resolutions intended to rename（重新命名，再命名）the state Dakota．
7．When Dakota Territory was created in 1861it was named for the Dakota Indian tribe．Dakota is a Sioux word meaning friends or allies．
8．Dakota Gasification Company in Beulah is the nation’s only synthetic（合成的，人造的）natural gas producer．
9．Bottineau is the southwestern gateway to the Turtle Mountains，Lake Metigoshe and the International Peace Garden．
10．Petroglyphs（岩石雕刻）carved into two granite（花岗岩）boulders give Writing Rock State Historic Site near Grenora its name．Though their origins are obscure（朦胧的，模糊的），the drawings probably represent the Thunderbird［雷鸟（北美印第安人神话中的一种能呼唤雷电的巨鸟）］，a mythological（神话学的，神话的）figure sacred to Late Prehistoric Plains Indians．Outlines of the bird，showing its wings extended and surrounded by abstract designs，appear on both boulders（大石头，漂石）．
11．The Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan（萨斯喀彻温省）and Manitoba（马尼托巴湖［加拿大中南部］）on the north，Minnesota on the east，South Dakota to the south，and Montana as its western neighbor border North Dakota．
12．Max G．Taubert of Casselton built a 50foot high pyramid（金字塔）of empty oil cans．It is believed to be the highest oil can structure in the world．
13．Devils Lake is the largest natural body of water in North Dakota．Devils Lake derives its name from the Native American name Miniwaukan．Early explorers incorrectly translated the word to mean Bad Spirit．Bolstered（支持）by the many legends of drowned warriors（勇士，武士）and lake monsters the name evolved into Devils Lake．This very fertile prairie lake grows large numbers of the fish known as walleye（大眼狮鲇），northern pike，and white bass．The lake has earned the reputation of being the Perch Capital of the World．
14．This name Roughrider（驯马师）State originated in a state－supported tourism promotion of the 1960s and 1970s．It refers to the First U．S．Volunteer Cavalry（骑兵）that Theodore Roosevelt organized to fight in the Spanish－American War．
15．The Dakota Dinosaur（恐龙）Museum in Dickinson houses twelve full scale dinosaurs，thousands of rock，mineral and fossil specimens and a complete real Triceratops and Edmontosaurus．
16．Richardton is home to the Abbey Church a Barvarian Romanesque（罗马式）structure．Lofty arches，52stained glass windows，24paintings of Saints on canvas（帆布）above the arches，and a huge carved crucifix（十字架）delineate（描绘）the impressive interior．
17．The Lone Tree Wildlife Management Area located southwest of Harvey consists of 33，000acres of gently rolling hills bordering the Sheyenne River．
18．The North Dakota State University research experiment station in Hettinger is the largest state owned sheep research center in the United States．
