The coat of arms of New Jersey was adopted in 1777 and modified in 1928. It depicts a shield with three plows flanked by two women. Above the shield is a horse's head atop a knight's helmet. Below everything is a banner that reads Liberty and Prosperity 1776. The state seal of New Jersey depicts the coat of arms on a white disc surrounded by the state name. The flag of New Jersey was adopted on May 11, 1896. It features the coat of arms on a buff field.
| Coat of arms of the State of New Jersey | |
|---|---|
| Versions | |
Great Seal of the State of New Jersey | |
| Armiger | State of New Jersey |
| Adopted | 1777 (modified 1928) |
| Crest | Upon a helm Or, a horse's head cabossed proper. |
| Torse | Argent and azure, the mantling azure doubled argent. |
| Shield | Azure; per pale three ploughs proper. |
| Supporters | In dexter the goddess Liberty affronté carrying in her dexter hand a pole, proper, surmounted by a cap gules, with band azure at the bottom, displaying on the band six stars, argent; in sinister the goddess Ceres affronté bearing a cornucopia Or bearing apples, grapes, and plums proper |
| Motto | Liberty and Prosperity |
| Designer | Pierre Eugene du Simitiere |
| Use | State flag |
|---|---|
| Proportion | 3:5 |
| Adopted | May 11, 1896 |
| Design | The state coat of arms centered on a buff colored field. |
Coat of arms
Design
The coat of arms of the state of New Jersey includes:
- A shield with three plows, representative of New Jersey's agricultural tradition.
- A forward-facing helmet, representing state sovereignty.
- A horse's head as the crest of the helmet, representing speed and strength.
- The female figures Liberty and Ceres, representative of the state's motto (see next item). Liberty is holding a staff supporting a stylized Phrygian cap, a symbol of rebellion by patriots in the colonies; Ceres is holding an overflowing cornucopia.
- The streamer at the foot of the emblem contains the state motto of New Jersey, "Liberty and Prosperity", and the year of statehood, 1776.
The coat of arms contains a horse's head; beneath that is a helmet, showing that New Jersey governs itself, and it has three plows on a shield to highlight the state's agriculture tradition, which shows why the state has the nickname “Garden State.” The two Goddesses represent the state motto, “Liberty and Prosperity.” Liberty is on the left. She is holding a staff with a liberty cap on it, and the word “LIBERTY” is underneath her. The goddess on the right is Ceres, goddess of agriculture. She is holding a cornucopia with the word “PROSPERITY” written below her.
History
The coat of arms of New Jersey was originally designed by Pierre Eugene du Simitiere in 1777 and was modified slightly in 1928.
- New Jersey state historical coat of arms (illustrated, 1876)
State seal
The seal is described in New Jersey statute Title 52, §2-1:
The great seal of this state shall be engraved on silver, which shall be round, of two and a half inches in diameter and three-eighths of an inch thick; the arms shall be three ploughs in an escutcheon, azure; supporters, Liberty and Ceres. The Goddess Liberty to carry in her dexter hand a pole, proper, surmounted by a cap gules, with band azure at the bottom, displaying on the band six stars, argent; tresses falling on shoulders, proper; head bearing over all a chaplet of laurel leaves, vert; overdress, tenne; underskirt, argent; feet sandaled, standing on scroll. Ceres: Same as Liberty, save overdress, gules; holding in left hand a cornucopia, or, bearing apples, plums and grapes surrounded by leaves, all proper; head bearing over all a chaplet of wheat spears, vert. Shield surmounted by sovereign's helmet, six bars, or; wreath and mantling, argent and azure. Crest: A horse's head, proper. Underneath the shield and supporting the goddesses, a scroll azure, bordered with tenne, in three waves or folds; on the upper folds the words "Liberty and Prosperity" ; on the under fold in Arabic numerals, the figures "1776". These words to be engraved round the arms, viz., "The Great Seal of the State of New Jersey".
In 2015 a circular letter issued by the State of New Jersey Department of the Treasury addressed the issue of unapproved and incorrect versions of "The Great Seal of the State of New Jersey". Many incorrectly show the underskirt in blue and not argent.
State flag
History
Unofficial flags (before 1896)
The first state flag was displayed at the Battle of Kings Mountain Centennial in South Carolina, on October 7, 1880. Its design is unknown.
In 1889, Governor Green flew a state flag from his yacht Meteor. It was never described.
Official flags (1896–present)
According to the minutes of the New Jersey General Assembly for May 11, 1896, the date on which the Assembly officially adopted the flag, the buff color is due indirectly to George Washington, who had ordered on September 14, 1779, that the uniform coats of the New Jersey Continental Line be dark (Jersey) blue, with buff facings. Buff-colored facings had until then been reserved only for his own uniform and those of other Continental generals and their aides. Then, on February 14, 1780, the Continental War Officers in Philadelphia directed that the uniform coat facings of all regiments were to be the same as the background color of the regiments' state flag.
In 1902, Commander Washington Irving of state Naval Militia flew the Militia's pennant from the USS Portsmouth, which caused a controversy with US Naval command who ordered the pennant down from the masthead. The flag was later allowed to fly again. It was described as having a blue field with state coat of arms in the middle.
On the night of September 23, 1912 three men drove to Governor Woodrow Wilson's mansion. Their plan was to steal the state flag flying from flag pole in front, but the sound of the car woke up the Governor's son-in-law who went outside to confronted the thieves. The men instantly ran when they saw him and made it back to their car then drove off. The state flag was described as being similar to National flag but with the state's coat of arms in the canton instead of stars. The whole thing measured around 12 feet (3.6 m) wide and 20 feet (6 m) long.
Design
The flag of the state of New Jersey includes the coat of arms of the state on a buff-colored background. In a 1965 law, the specific color shades of Jersey blue and buff were defined by the state. Using the Cable color system developed by the Color Association of the United States, Jersey Blue was defined as Cable No. 70087; Buff was defined as Cable No. 65015. The Office of the Secretary of State of New Jersey gives the blue and buff color hexadecimal equivalents as #2484C6 and #E1B584, respectively.
- The New Jersey state flag as depicted in the 1976 bicentennial postage stamp series.
Flag proposals
NJ Advance Media and NJ.com ran a contest in 2016 to create a new flag for New Jersey, with nearly 400 designs being submitted. A panel of five judges narrowed the submissions down to ten finalists, which were then put to a public vote, with the official result based on the number of votes each design had after voting closed on March 6.
A winning design by Andrew Maris of Fair Haven was chosen, but no legislative action has been taken to authorize a new flag.
- Winner - Andrew Maris
- Third place - C. Erickson
- Fourth place - Marmocet
- Sixth place - Andrew Zega
- Seventh place - Andrew Jones
- Eighth place - Kenneth Huang
- Ninth place - Dave Martucci
- Tenth place - Joe Conklin
Other flags
- Flag of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
- New Jersey Tricentennial Flag, designed in 1964 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the establishment of the Province of New Jersey
Government seals of New Jersey
- Seal of the New Jersey State Police
- Seal of the attorney general of New Jersey
- Seal of the New Jersey Department of Transportation
- Seal of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities
- Seal of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority
See also
- List of New Jersey state symbols
- Broad Seal War
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