The official flag for the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) was designated on 15 October 1938. Between the time the first flag or seal was created in 1871 and 1920, a number of different, unofficial flags were used for the district. Finally, a commission was formed in 1920 to work on a new design for a flag, which was finally adopted in 1938. The design was taken from a shield of the Washington Family.