Southwest started featuring US state flags in 1990 when the "Lone Star One" scheme was unveiled. It was a tribute to the state where the airline was founded in 1971: Texas. The move proved to be very successful among customers and employees, which prompted Southwest to add more of these designs over the years. It is unclear what exactly triggers the release of a new State scheme, however a large market share and long airline presence are a given.
The airline makes a big deal of keeping these planes secret before the unveiling, which includes giving unrelated project names, wrapping the aircraft in brown paper in hangars and flying them at night prior to the launch event.
Louisiana One was unveiled in New Orleans on March 7, 2018. Louisiana -aka the "Pelican State"- saw the first Southwest service outside Texas when the airline launched the Houston Hobby-New Orleans route on January 25, 1979. 2018 marked the 39th anniversary of service to MSY and was also a year of celebrations in New Orleans with the city celebrating 300 years. A Louisiana One-themed parade by Southwest employees with live music was organised to celebrate the christening of the plane.
The livery is an artist's rendering of the flag which represents a mother pelican "in her nest feeding her young with her blood". Also present is the state motto "Union, Justice, Confidence".
Tennessee One was unveiled in Nashville on February 22, 2016, celebrating 30 years of service to the state. Nashville has been an important station for Southwest for a long time, with Memphis added in 2013.
Nashville aka 'Music City' is known as the home of country music in the USA, and celebrations for the unveiling of Tennessee One included live music both on the ground and in the air during the inaugural BNA-MEM flight.
The three stars represent the three Grand Divisions of the state (East, Middle & West). N922WN lost its Tennessee One scheme in 2021 and in September 2022 the livery reappeared on 738 N8620H.
Missouri One was unveiled in Kansas City on April 15, 2015. Celebrations of more than 30 years of service to the state took place in a hangar in Kansas City Airport and continued with a special flight to St. Louis, thus linking the two major Kansas stations of the Southwest network.
The Seal of the state of Missouri is the core part of this artist's rendering of the state flag. Two mighty grizzly bears support the center shield with the motto of the state "United we stand, divided we fall". Note that the motto is divided in two and both sides show half of it.
Colorado One was unveiled in Denver on August 22, 2012. Although Colorado was not one of the early markets of Southwest (Stapleton was only briefly served in 1983-85), the airline's Denver network grew rapidly in the 2000s to become one of its largest stations.
The flag of Colorado has quite a different design when compared to other US state flags. The Gold (yellow) colour is a reminder of the gold rush era of the late 1800s while the white represents the snowcapped mountains. The tail was repainted in the latest scheme in late 2021/early 2022 and the scheme was transferred to a -800 in 2025.
Florida One was unveiled in Tampa on April 23, 2010. Southwest made a relatively late entry in the Florida market with inaugural service in 1996, but in 2010 the airline was carrying about 20% of passenger traffic to the state. The aircraft toured Southwest's Florida stations in the days following the unveiling, flying to Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood, Orlando and Ft. Myers.
The livery is made of an artist's rendering of the Seal of Florida, which features a Seminole woman spreading flowers with a Sabal palm (Florida's state tree) and a steamboat in the background. The tail was repainted in the latest WN scheme in 2018.
Illinois One was unveiled in Chicago-Midway on April 14, 2008. The scheme celebrates the airline's strong commitment to Illinois and Chicago in particular from where it flew 227 daily departures in 2008.
The livery is an artist's rendition of the state seal (from which the state flag is directly composed) with a bald eagle and the state motto, "State Sovereignty, National Union." The 737-700 gained the latest WN tail livery in 2015 and was withdrawn from use in 2020; the scheme reappeared in 2022 on a 738.
Maryland One was unveiled in Baltimore/Washington on June 14, 2005 as the first "Eastern" state flag livery. The airline had launched service to BWI in 1993 as the airline's first East coast station. Since then its presence in the Maryland airport has significantly grown and by 2005 it was the airline's 3rd largest station in terms of daily departures.
The Maryland flag is the only US state flag to be directly based on English heraldry, referring to the heraldic flag of George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, founder of the Maryland Colony. The black and yellow part is the Calvert family banner, while the red and white part is the cross bottony (trefly) called "Crossland Banner" from the Crossland line, the family of Lord Baltimore's mother.
Note the livery design is asymetric, with white engine cowlings on the port side and red ones on the starboard side. The aircraft was repainted in the latest scheme in 2021.
New Mexico One was unveiled in Albuquerque on September 18, 2000 and was at the time Southwest's 10th specially painted plane. The scheme celebrated 20 years of service to the state, Albuquerque having been added to the network in April 1980.
The state flag features the ancient symbol of the Zia Pueblo Indians; dignitaries of the tribe had been consulted for the design of the livery. Children from the Zia Pueblo performed a traditional Crow Dance at the unveiling ceremony. The scheme stayed on the airframe while the WN livery was modified in 2005 & 2018; it was then transferred to a -800 in 2023.
Nevada One was unveiled in Reno on June 2, 1999 as the first State livery appearing on a 737NG, with celebrations continuing to Las Vegas, which was by the time the third largest station of Southwest.
The design of the livery includes a silver star (a reference to the state's nickname, The Silver State) and the “Battle Born” banner referring to Nevada’s birth as a state during the Civil War in 1864. Green sagebrush (the state flower) with yellow flowers are dislayed around the star. The aircraft gained the "Canyon Blue" tail in 2007.
California One was unveiled on August 11, 1995 in Sacramento before touring 8 other California stations. California was added to the Southwest network in 1982 and by 1995 the state was accounting for a significant part of the airline's traffic with 500+ daily flights.
The Bear Flag is the official flag of the state of California. Its roots date back to the 19th century and the species displayed is the now extinct California grizzly bear. A bear was present in front of N609SW at the unveiling of the livery.
