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Keokuk County, Iowa, USA

Description of the flag

See also:

Description of the flag

Keokuk County (11,400 inhabitants in 2002; 1,502 sq. km) is located in the south-east of Iowa.

Some historical details from the official Keokuk County website:
"Keokuk is named after a famous Sac Indian Chief. The name means "Watchful Fox" or "He Who Has Been Everywhere". Chief Keokuk advocated peace with the white settlers. Indians that dwelt in this area were the Sac and Fox tribes. Keokuk County was opened up for settlement in May 1843 and the organization of Keokuk County began in 1844. Before this time the county was attached to Washington County. The location of the county seat of justice was a source of controversy. The southeastern portion of the county was the first to be settled so the people there felt that the county seat should be located in the center of the population distribution rather than in the geographical center. The debate over the county seat location continued throughout the years. After lengthy discussions the commissioners moved the official location of the county seat to the town of Sigourney in 1856. Sigourney was named after the author and poet Lydia Huntley Sigourney."
http://www.keokukcountyia.com/History/history.htm

A more detailed history of the early years of Keokuk County can be found on the Iowa Genealogy website: http://www.beforetime.net/iowagenealogy/keokuk/index.html

On 31 July 2006, "The Sigourney News-Review" reports:
"Residents Honored By Flag Presentations

The Keokuk County Republicans gave away a Keokuk County flag and an American flag flown over the State of Iowa Capitol building. The US flag was donated by the Republican central committee and the County flag was donated by Keokuk County Attorney, John Schroeder."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16976281&BRD=1871&PAG=461&dept_id=226727&rfi=6

Unfortunately, nothing is said about the design of Keokuk County flag and there is no image provided.
Ivan Sache, 31 July 2006

A black and white photo of the flag is shown on the website of "Sigourney News-Review / The Keota Eagle". The flag has a plain background with the seal of the county bearing a scroll charged with "ORGANIZED 1844" and surmounted by the name of the county in (white?) capital letters. There are 16 (white?) stars each charged with the name of one of the 16 towns included in the county.
The stars are placed 2 + 2 + 1 + 2 on each side of the seal, plus 2 below it. The towns' names are arranged in alphabetic order, from left to right and top to bottom, as follows (name written in capitals):
Delta
Gibson
Harper
Hayesville
Hedrick
Keota
Keswick
Kinross
Martinsburg
Ollie
Richland
Sigourney
South English
Thornburg
Webster
What Cheer
Source: http://www.keotaeagle.com (page now expired)
http://www.iowa.org/county/keokuk provides a county map showing the 16 towns.

Ivan Sache, 15 July 2009

The story accompanying the image at the link provided says the background is royal blue, and confirms that the stars are white.
Ned Smith, 15 July 2009

A color picture of the flag used as a background can be seen at http://www.keokukcountyia.com/CPC/cpc.htm.
Aleksandar Nemet, 15 July 2009