Ben,

>>>>Is it possible that the Inspiration for the pre-war Kentucky flag was Irish? How far back does the KY flag go? KY settled by Scots/Irish? Revolutionary spirit and all that! >>>>>

The Kentucky State Guard formed in 1860 and was made up of many of the blue bloods of that state - whose roots go to Virginia (VA once owned what became KY as NC owned what became TN). Those that crossed the mountains into each state were pretty hard scrabble people - the Tennesseans who fought at King's Mountain in the Rev War were called "Over the Mountain Men." I have no clue as to the ethnic roots of these people and have yet to find anything written in detail about KSG flags and their inspiration. We are not even sure that they all looked like the one that survives.

Only one of the KSG flags survives for the Woodford Blues (or Woolford - will have to check) and the modern state flag is post-war (a post-war KY militia color survives in a museum in Paducah) so I have no clue what the inspiration was for the KSG flag at all.

From the KY state flag web site - The current flag was adopted by the Kentucky General Assembly on March 26, 1918. The flag was designed by Jesse Cox Burgess, an art teacher from Frankfort, the state capital.

Greg Biggs