NYC FLAGS
New York City Seal, New York
3x5ft is a stock flag.
All other sizes Listed (+ custom requests) are Made to Order.
All-weather Nylon Printed Fabric.
Many sizes offered.
Please allow 2-3 week turn-around time for Made-To-Order Sizes.
MADE IN USA.
FLAG HISTORY:
The city flag is a vertical tricolor in blue, white, and orange and charged in the center bar with the Seal of New York City in blue. The tricolor design is derived from the flag of the Dutch Republic—the Prince's Flag—as used in New Amsterdam in 1625. For the first few hundred years of its existence, the City of New York lacked an official flag and seal.[1] By the end of the 19th century, the city was flying an unofficial flag featuring a round blue seal on a white field.
In 1914, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the installation of
the first mayor under English rule, the City Art Commission appointed a
blue-ribbon committee to create the city's first official seal and flag.
The committee consulted with the New-York Historical Society
to study historical seals used by city government under the Dutch and
English, to incorporate their symbolism into the new city seal and flag.
The Committee described their proposed flag this way:
In our flag, the colors are
Dutch, the arms are English, the crest is distinctively American, but
the flag as such is the flag of the City, which has grown from these
beginnings to be the home of all nations, the great cosmopolitan city of
the world, the City of New York. —?Committee of the Art Commission Associates, Seal and Flag of the City of New York, p. 84
The flag was approved on April 6, 1915 and first unveiled to the public on June 24.
The current design dates from December 30, 1977, when the seal was subtly modified. The date was changed from 1664 (when the Kingdom of England took possession) to 1625. The change was proposed by the Irish-born Paul O'Dwyer,
president of the City Council, to emphasize the Dutch contributions to
the city's history and downplay the British legacy. The choice of date
was controversial at the time; an aide to First Deputy Mayor James A.
Cavanagh concluded: "In researching the validity of this proposal, I find no basis for 1625 as the founding date." An aide to then-Mayor Abe Beame
suggested that 1624 would be a more accurate date, as that was when the
city was actually chartered as a legal Dutch entity. Author Edwin G.
Burrows had another perspective on the debate, saying "You have to wonder if they didn’t pick either 1626 or 1625 just to beat Boston, settled in 1630." Nonetheless, the mayor signed O'Dwyer's legislation.
Symbolism
- Bald eagle: The symbol of the United States of America
- Native American: The original inhabitants of the area
- Seaman: Symbolizes the colonizers of the area
- Beaver: Symbolizes the Dutch West India Company, which was the first company in New York (originally known as Nieuw Amsterdam). Also the official animal of New York State.
- Windmill: Remembers the Dutch history of the city and the prosperous industry of milling flour.
- Flour barrels: In the 17th century, New York had been granted
a short-lived monopoly on milling, which established the fledgling
colony as a commercial powerhouse
- 1625: Originally 1664, the year was later changed to honor the establishment of New Amsterdam,
which was actually settled in 1624. The 1625 date has been described as
"arbitrary" by the public historian at the New-York Historical Society
and "simply wrong" by Michael Miscione, the Manhattan borough historian.
