The need for and official state flag arose in 1904 when the West Virginia State Commission to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis reported that the state required a flag or ensign to represent and distinguish itself among the other U.S. states at the exposition. In lieu of an official state flag, the commission adopted and used a state flag of its own design at the West Virginia building at the exposition, which was a "sprig of mountain laurel upon an immaculate white field with a pale blue border".