Official and Traditional Colors of South Dakota
South Dakota state colors are Blue and Gold, officially designated in 1909. Find HEX, RGB, CMYK, and Pantone codes plus the history and meaning.
Official color palette of South Dakota
State color reference
- Official colors
- Blue and Gold
- Official since
- 1909 (Laws 1909, Chapter 230)
- Primary use
- State government branding, state flag design, state seal, official agency insignia
- Known for
- Blue and gold derived from the official state seal and original flag design; colors representing the sky of the Great Plains, the Black Hills gold deposits, and the shining sun motif central to South Dakota's state identity
Color Specifications
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Blue
Represents the vast, open sky above the Great Plains that defines South Dakota's landscape from the Badlands to the Black Hills, and the clear waters of the Missouri River that divides the state into its eastern prairie and western ranching regions; the deep royal blue of the state flag evokes the wide horizons and the immense sky country for which the Northern Plains are celebrated
Gold
Represents the gold deposits of the Black Hills that drove settlement and shaped South Dakota's early economy through the Deadwood Gold Rush of 1876, the golden rays of the sun depicted at the center of the state seal, and the rich amber fields of wheat and sunflowers that have made South Dakota one of the nation's leading agricultural producers since territorial days
WCAG Contrast Checker
Accessibility compliance for Blue and Gold
Gold
on Blue background
Blue
on Gold background
WCAG 2.1 Standards:
- AA Normal Text: 4.5:1 minimum
- AA Large Text: 3:1 minimum
- AAA Normal Text: 7:1 minimum
- AAA Large Text: 4.5:1 minimum
Developer Export
Copy-paste ready code snippets
CSS Variables
/* CSS Variables for South Dakota */
:root {
--south-dakota-blue: #003DA5;
--south-dakota-gold: #FFB81C;
}Tailwind CSS Config
// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'south-dakota': {
'blue': '#003DA5',
'gold': '#FFB81C',
}
}
}
}
}SCSS Variables
// SCSS Variables for South Dakota
$south-dakota-blue: #003DA5;
$south-dakota-gold: #FFB81C;
Troy ounces of gold produced by the Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota between 1876 and 2001 — one of the largest gold outputs of any mine in North American history, making gold the literal foundation of South Dakota's early economy and the driving force behind the Black Hills settlement rush of 1876
Official Designation and History
South Dakota designated blue and gold as its official state colors in 1909 under Laws 1909, Chapter 230, just twenty years after achieving statehood in 1889. The legislative designation formalized colors that were already embedded in the state's official imagery through the state seal adopted at statehood, which featured a central sun motif in gold against a blue background representing the sky of the Great Plains. The 1909 act made South Dakota one of the first states in the nation to codify its official color identity by legislative statute in the early twentieth century and reinforced the Mount Rushmore State identity.
The selection of blue and gold in 1909 was not an arbitrary choice but a deliberate formalization of the colors already visible on South Dakota's most prominent state emblems. The state flag, first adopted in 1909 in the same legislative session that designated the official colors, featured the state seal centered on a field of blue with a gold sun on the reverse. This dual use of blue and gold across both the flag and the seal gave the colors immediate institutional weight and ensured their consistent presence across state government applications from the earliest years of the twentieth century, alongside formal language in South Dakota's state motto.
Laws 1909, Chapter 230
Laws 1909, Chapter 230 established blue and gold as the official colors of the State of South Dakota, rooting the designation in the design of the state seal and the original state flag. The legislation did not specify exact Pantone or HEX values, as such standardization systems did not yet exist in 1909. Modern applications of South Dakota's official colors have standardized to royal blue in the range of PMS 286 and gold approximating PMS 123, consistent with the colors as rendered on the state flag and seal in contemporary state branding guidelines.
The 1889 State Seal and the Origin of the Colors
When South Dakota achieved statehood on November 2, 1889, becoming the 40th state of the Union, its founders adopted a state seal that prominently featured a golden sun rising above a Missouri River scene, with a farmer, a steamboat, a smelting furnace, and fields of corn — all rendered against the blue of sky and water. This seal established blue and gold as South Dakota's default state palette two decades before they were formally codified in 1909. The seal's imagery captured the dual promise of South Dakota at statehood: the agricultural richness of the eastern prairies and the mineral wealth of the Black Hills.
Key milestones
The Custer Expedition confirms gold deposits in the Black Hills, triggering prospector interest and setting in motion the settlement wave that would drive South Dakota toward statehood
The Black Hills Gold Rush begins in earnest; the Homestake Mine opens in Lead and the town of Deadwood becomes one of the most famous frontier settlements in American history, cementing gold's association with South Dakota's identity
South Dakota admitted to the Union on November 2 as the 40th state; the state seal adopted at statehood features a golden sun and blue sky, establishing the color palette that will be codified by law twenty years later
South Dakota Legislature officially designates blue and gold as the state colors under Laws 1909, Chapter 230, simultaneously adopting the first state flag featuring these colors on a blue field with a gold sun design
South Dakota revises its state flag design while retaining the blue field and gold sun burst surrounding the state seal, reaffirming blue and gold as the defining visual identity of the Mount Rushmore State
Homestake Mine closes after 125 years of continuous operation, having produced more than 40 million troy ounces of gold — a legacy that ensures the color gold will remain permanently synonymous with South Dakota's history
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What the Colors Represent
South Dakota's blue and gold carry a depth of geographic and historical meaning that mirrors the state's dramatic landscape and frontier heritage. Blue speaks to the enormous sky that dominates the visual experience of the Great Plains, the Missouri River corridor that shaped the state's settlement patterns, and the lakes of the glaciated eastern prairie. Gold speaks to two defining realities of South Dakota's history: the mineral wealth of the Black Hills, whose gold deposits drew tens of thousands of prospectors beginning in 1876, and the agricultural abundance of the plains, where wheat fields and sunflower crops turn the landscape gold each summer. Together the colors frame the sun motif that anchors South Dakota's state seal — a golden sun rising into a blue sky, the foundational image of the Mount Rushmore State's official identity.
Blue in South Dakota History
The blue of South Dakota's state colors reflects the defining geographic reality of the Great Plains: an immense sky that stretches from horizon to horizon with an openness rarely matched elsewhere in North America. South Dakota's sky country, stretching from the Coteau des Prairies in the east to the Black Hills in the west, is defined by its vast, unobstructed blue vault. Blue also represents the Missouri River, which bisects South Dakota from north to south and has served as the state's central transportation corridor, boundary between ecological zones, and source of water in an otherwise semi-arid landscape. The royal blue of the state flag — a deep, authoritative shade consistent with PMS 286 — projects the dignity and endurance of a state shaped by the hardships and opportunities of the northern frontier.
Gold in South Dakota History
Gold entered South Dakota's consciousness with the Black Hills Expedition of 1874, led by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, whose reports of gold deposits in the Black Hills triggered one of the last great gold rushes of the American West. By 1876, the town of Deadwood had become the center of a massive gold rush that brought prospectors, gamblers, and legendary figures including Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane to the Black Hills. The Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, which opened in 1876 and operated until 2001, became one of the largest and deepest gold mines in North American history, producing more than 40 million troy ounces of gold over its 125-year history. Gold in the state colors therefore represents not a symbolic or incidental association but a direct acknowledgment of the mineral wealth that drove South Dakota's settlement, economy, and early statehood ambitions.
Usage in Flags, Seals, and Insignias
Blue and gold appear on every major South Dakota state emblem. The state flag, in its current form adopted in 1992 (building on the original 1909 design), displays the state seal centered on a field of blue, with a gold sun burst surrounding the seal's central circle — making blue and gold the dominant and immediate visual identity of the flag. The state seal, which dates to 1889 and has been refined without altering its essential imagery, features a golden sun at its apex above a panoramic Missouri River scene, with the state motto 'Under God the People Rule' on a blue ribbon surrounding the central image. South Dakota state agency branding, official government communications, and the University of South Dakota and South Dakota State University athletic programs all make prominent use of the blue and gold palette established by the 1909 legislation, ensuring that the state colors remain among the most consistently applied of any state symbol in the Mount Rushmore State, including interstate-facing materials in States That Border South Dakota.
Timeline
The Custer Expedition confirms gold deposits in the Black Hills, triggering prospector interest and setting in motion the settlement wave that would drive South Dakota toward statehood
The Custer Expedition confirms gold deposits in the Black Hills, triggering prospector interest and setting in motion the settlement wave that would drive South Dakota toward statehood
The Black Hills Gold Rush begins in earnest; the Homestake Mine opens in Lead and the town of Deadwood becomes one of the most famous frontier settlements in American history, cementing gold's association with South Dakota's identity
South Dakota admitted to the Union on November 2 as the 40th state; the state seal adopted at statehood features a golden sun and blue sky, establishing the color palette that will be codified by law twenty years later
South Dakota admitted to the Union on November 2 as the 40th state; the state seal adopted at statehood features a golden sun and blue sky, establishing the color palette that will be codified by law twenty years later
South Dakota Legislature officially designates blue and gold as the state colors under Laws 1909, Chapter 230, simultaneously adopting the first state flag featuring these colors on a blue field with a gold sun design
South Dakota revises its state flag design while retaining the blue field and gold sun burst surrounding the state seal, reaffirming blue and gold as the defining visual identity of the Mount Rushmore State
South Dakota revises its state flag design while retaining the blue field and gold sun burst surrounding the state seal, reaffirming blue and gold as the defining visual identity of the Mount Rushmore State
Homestake Mine closes after 125 years of continuous operation, having produced more than 40 million troy ounces of gold — a legacy that ensures the color gold will remain permanently synonymous with South Dakota's history
"South Dakota's blue and gold trace directly to the state seal of 1889, making them among the most historically grounded state color designations in the American West — rooted in the reality of Black Hills gold and the endless sky of the Great Plains."
Quick Answers
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Why does South Dakota use blue and gold?
Do South Dakota's state colors appear on the state flag?
Sources
- South Dakota Legislature - Laws 1909, Chapter 230
- South Dakota Secretary of State - State Symbols
- South Dakota State Historical Society - State Emblems
- South Dakota State Flag Specifications
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