Iowa is a state in the Midwestern United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the east and southeast, Missouri to the south, Nebraska to the west, South Dakota to the northwest, and Minnesota to the north. The state’s capital, most populous city, and largest metropolitan area fully located within the state is Des Moines. The flag of the state of Iowa is a vertical tricolor of blue, white, and red, reflecting the U.S. state of Iowa’s history as part of the French Louisiana Territory. The image of a bald eagle with a long ribbon reading “Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain”, derived from the Seal of Iowa, is centered in the middle white stripe. The word “Iowa” is placed directly below it in red, serifed majuscules. The flag was adopted in 1921; it was first approved in May 1917, by the Iowa State Council for Defense. It was designed in 1917, by Knoxville, Iowa, resident Mrs. Dixie Cornell Gebhardt, of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Iowa. Full HD.