Official and Traditional Colors of North Carolina

North Carolina formally designated red and blue as its official state colors through the General Assembly of 1945, ratified on March 19, 1945, under Session Laws Chapter 878 and now codified as G.S. § 145-3. The legislation was introduced by Billy Arthur of Onslow County and passed with the explicit intent of selecting colors that matched both the North Carolina state flag and the American flag. The bill noted that when red and blue are combined with the white paper of official state documents, they produce the three colors of both flags simultaneously — a symbolically unified rationale for the selection that is visible on the North Carolina flag page.

Prior to the 1945 legislation, the colors of the University of North Carolina — blue and white — were generally accepted as the unofficial state colors, a practice that had been in place since at least the early 1940s. The 1945 act replaced this informal tradition with a formal statutory designation and shifted the identity away from any single institution's colors toward the patriotic palette shared by both the state and national flags, reinforcing the Tar Heel State identity.

North Carolina's red and blue carry both heraldic and patriotic significance rooted in the traditions of the American founding. Blue represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice — qualities associated with the canton of the United States flag and with North Carolina's distinguished record as a defender of colonial liberties. Red represents valor and hardiness, reflecting the military courage of North Carolina's Continental Army regiments and the state's proud martial history from the Revolutionary War through subsequent national conflicts.

Red and blue dominate the North Carolina state flag in its primary visual bands — the blue canton and the red upper horizontal stripe define the flag's immediate visual impression. The North Carolina state seal, while incorporating a broader range of colors in its detailed imagery, uses blue and red as the primary colors of the ribbon and border elements. G.S. § 145-3 specifically authorizes the use of state colors on ribbons attached to state documents bearing the Great Seal and seals of state departments, noting that such use is 'permissive and discretionary but not mandatory.' Red and blue appear in North Carolina state government communications, the insignia of the North Carolina National Guard, and the official branding of the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer and other state agencies, while broader growth patterns are tracked in U.S. states by population.