The flag of the
State of New York is the state's coat of arms on a blue
background. It depicts two supporters:
- Left: Liberty, with the
Revolutionary imagery of a Phrygian cap raised on a pole. Her
left foot treads upon a crown that represents freedom from the
Kingdom of Great Britain.
- Right: blindfolded Justice,
with scales and sword.
The unheraldic nature of the
Hudson River landscape reveals the modern origin of the
coat-of-arms. The crest is an eagle surmounting a world globe. The
two ships represent inland and foreign commerce, both of which are
important for the state of New York.
The motto Excelsior is a Latin
word meaning "higher", "superior", "lordly".
The official blazon for the coat of arms is:
Charge. Azure, in a landscape, the sun in fess, rising in splendor
or, behind a range of three mountains, the middle one the highest;
in base a ship and sloop under sail, passing and about to meet on
a river, bordered below by a grassy shore fringed with shrubs, all
proper.
Crest. On a wreath azure and or,
an American eagle proper, rising to the dexter from a two-thirds
of a globe terrestrial, showing the north Atlantic ocean with
outlines of its shores.
Supporters. On a quasi
compartment formed by the extension of the scroll. Dexter. The
figure of Liberty proper, her hair disheveled and decorated with
pearls, vested azure, sandaled gules, about the waist a cincture
or, fringed gules, a mantle of the last depending from the
shoulders behind to the feet, in the dexter hand a staff ensigned
with a Phrygian cap or, the sinister arm embowed, the hand
supporting the shield at the dexter chief point, a royal crown by
her sinister foot dejected. Sinister. The figure of Justice
proper, her hair disheveled and decorated with pearls, vested or,
about the waist a cincture azure, fringed gules, sandaled and
mantled as Liberty, bound about the eyes with a fillet proper, in
the dexter hand a straight sword hilted or, erect, resting on the
sinister chief point of the shield, the sinister arm embowed,
holding before her her scales proper.
Motto. On a scroll below the
shield argent, in sable, Excelsior.
The device of arms of the State flag was adopted in 1778 and the
present flag is a modern version of a Revolutionary War Flag. The
original is at the Albany Institute of History and Art.
The legislature changed the field from buff to blue by a law
enacted on April 2, 1901. |
