The Central Campus Flagpole

Dominating Central Campus is a 164 foot tall flag pole with a large flag (not sure of the size of the flag though). It was an item obtained by the University from the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893. It was a steel tube surmounted by a ship's mast. The mast was rumored to be the mast from the USS Maine (but it is not...part of that is at Arlington the other is at Annapolis).

I'm not going to get into the details of the flag itself as most Americans know that. I do like the looks of our flag though.

I'm not sure why this wants to put this picture this way, but I kind of like it better this way as it conveys that sense of looking up at something and spinning around to get a better view of it. Originally, this was further in campus but was moved to its present location when the old library was demolished. Sometime in the 1960's, the mast was replaced with a plain steel tube, but it still looks pretty cool.