Rhode Island's official flag was adopted in 1897. The flag is white, fringed with yellow on three sides. A yellow anchor is circled by 13 yellow stars (the stars symbolize the original 13 colonies). A blue ribbon is under the anchor and reads, "HOPE." The anchor was first adopted as a seal for Rhode Island in 1647, when the four original towns of Rhode Island (Providence, Warwick, Portsmouth, and Newport) united under a single charter.

Rhode Island was the 13th state in the USA; it became a state in 1790.