The birth of the Arizona State Flag can be traced back to the 1910 National Rifle Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio before Arizona officially entered the Union. Shooting matches began at Camp Perry in 1907 and rapidly developed into a prestigious annual event that continues to this day.
Members of the visiting Arizona Rifle Team noticed that all of the other "state" rifle teams carried flags or emblems. The Arizona team had no such flag or emblem and brought this to the attention of Arizona National Guard Colonel Charles Wilfred Harris, who was serving as the team captain. The team suggested that a flag be created to represent the Arizona Rifle Team at future National Rifle Matches.
The idea for the design of the flag was conceived of by Colonel Harris and by Carl Hayden, Arizona's first representative in Congress who went on to become a United States Senator. Their first priorities for the design were that it contain historical values and that its colors should reflect those values.
