NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee State Museum will premiere A Grand Design: Captain Le Roy Reeves and the Tennessee State Flag, a new short documentary about the origins of the TriStar state flag and its designer, Captain Le Roy Reeves, on Saturday, May 30 as part of its Statehood Day commemoration. Additional screenings will take place on June 1, 2026.
Each screening in the Museum’s Digital Learning Center will conclude with a rare opportunity to view the original template flag, which was recently conserved and has not been displayed since 2005. The flag will go on view again when the new Capitol Visitors Center opens in the former Legislative Plaza in 2027.
“The TriStar is a ubiquitous symbol in Tennessee and comes from arguably one of the most recognizable state flags in the nation,” said Joe Pagetta, director of communications at the Tennessee State Museum and producer of the film. “Very few people, I imagine, know the story of the man who designed it, Captain Le Roy Reeves, and are aware that his very first version of it – what we call the template flag – is part of the collection of the Museum. It’s very exciting to share this artifact and its history.”
Executive-produced by Megan Grisolano and edited by John Boland of Nashville PBS, with animation contributions by Jon Densk, the film will screen every 45 minutes in the Museum’s Digital Learning Center on both May 30, 2026. and June 1, 2026. A full schedule of screenings, along with all of the Museum’s programming for its Statehood Day commemoration and its partnership with the Folklife Program at the Tennessee Arts Commission, is available on the Calendar of Events at TNMuseum.org.
Le Roy Reeves was born on June 23, 1876, in Johnson City, Tennessee, the eldest of five children born to Elbert Clay Reeves and Alice (Robeson) Reeves. A graduate of Johnson City College and Normal Institute, he originally planned to become a teacher. After a brief tenure in education, he left his teaching post to take the Tennessee Bar Exam and joined his father’s practice in Johnson City.
Just as Reeves was beginning his law career, he decided to join the National Guard, helping to organize Company F of the Third Infantry. On June 30, 1903, Reeves was commissioned as a captain.
Disappointed with his state’s lack of heraldry and a unifying symbol for its three Grand Divisions, Reeves soon began earnestly drafting designs and selecting colors for a flag that was to him, “distinctly Tennessee.” He didn’t collaborate with other individuals or organizations while designing his flag. For two years Reeves appealed to legislators, military officials, and civic groups before the flag was finally adopted on April 17, 1905.
“Reeves was not perfect,” notes Ryan Dooley, Tennessee State Museum senior curator and archivist on the film. “His relentless communications, obsessive attention to detail, and lack of collaboration in designing the flag may have been flawed, but his motivations for designing the flag and persistence to implement it were unwavering.”
Reeves died on May 25, 1960, at age 83. He is buried in Johnson City, where a historical marker notes his achievement, and a Tennessee State Flag flies over his grave.
About Tennessee State Museum and Tennessee America 250
Celebrating its 89th Anniversary in 2026, the Tennessee State Museum, located on the corner of Rosa L Parks Blvd. and Jefferson Street at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, is your home to thousands of years of Tennessee history, art, and culture. Through six permanent exhibitions titled Natural History, First Peoples, Forging a Nation, The Civil War and Reconstruction, Change and Challenge and Tennessee Transforms, the Museum takes visitors on a journey–through artifacts, films, interactive displays, events and educational and digital programing–from the state’s geological beginnings to the present day.
Additional temporary exhibitions explore significant periods and individuals in history, along with art and cultural movements. The Museum is free and open to the public Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. For more information on exhibitions and events, please visit TNMuseum.org.
The Museum is also the headquarters of the Tennessee Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial, created to plan, encourage, develop, and coordinate the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, and recognize Tennessee’s integral role in that event and the impact of its people on the nation’s past, present, and future. For more information about the commission, its grant program, signature events and support for other programming and institutions statewide, please visit TN250.com.
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