Coat of arms and flag of New Jersey

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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

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref name="njleg">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

The coat of arms of New Jersey was originally designed by Pierre Eugene du Simitiere in 1777 and was modified slightly in 1928.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Gallery

State seal

The seal is described in New Jersey statute Title 52, §2-1:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Template:QuotationIn 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".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Many incorrectly show the underskirt in blue and not argent.

State flag

History

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.<ref name="minutes">Template:Cite web</ref>

Design

The flag of the state of New Jersey includes the coat of arms of the state on a buff-colored background.<ref name="flag">Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name="colors">Template:Cite web</ref> The Office of the Secretary of State of New Jersey gives the blue and buff color hexadecimal equivalents as #2484C6 and #E1B584, respectively.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Gallery Template:Clr

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A winning design by Andrew Maris of Fair Haven was chosen, but no legislative action has been taken to authorize a new flag.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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

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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<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>