New York City, New York (U.S.)

Last modified: 2008-06-07 by rick wyatt
Keywords: new york | new york city | world’s fair |
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image by Joe McMillan, 2 June 2000

See also:

• Clickable map of New York City
• NYC Fire Department
• NYC Police Department
• NYC Department of Sanitation
• NYC Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA)
• Governors Island
• Columbia University
• New York University
• New York State
• History of New York City subdivisions by Harry Macy, Jr.

Boroughs/Counties of New York City

Boroughs and counties refer to the same geographical entities. New York (City) contains five subdivisions, called boroughs. The boroughs are also counties, making New York (City) one of the only (perhaps *the* only) cities in the U.S. which has counties contained *within*. As counties, they are entitled to have county governments, including sheriffs, etc.

The borough of Brooklyn, where I grew up, was an independent city till the end of the 19th century. In fact, Brooklyn had been itself originally composed of villages. One of them, Flatbush, had its own Town Hall.

Lewis A. Nowitz, 1 July 2000

The Official City Flag

From Official Directory of New York City -
Description: A flag combining the colors orange, white and blue arranged in perpendicular bars of equal dimensions (the blue being nearest to the flagstaff) with the standard design of the seal of the city in blue upon the middle, or white bar, bearing the number 1625, which colors shall be the same as those of the flag of the United Netherlands in use in the year sixteen hundred twenty-five.
Kurt Stutt, 1 July 1996

On December 30, 1977, the seal and flag were changed in two ways. First, the date appearing on the 1915 seal was changed from 1664, when the English captured the city, to 1625, the date of the original founding of the city by the Dutch. Secondly the clause in the ordinance regarding the inscription on the seal on the flag was changed from "shall" to "may", thereby creating two official variants of the flag, one with the inscription and one without. Unofficially, the seal in both forms is a bit elongated into a slight oval while the official seal is a circle. Both flags can be found in use.
Dave Martucci, 24 November 2002

From the on-line city administrative code City Flag:
§ 2-103 Official city flag.
a. The following design is hereby adopted as the design of the official flag of the city:
1. A flag combining the colors orange, white and blue arranged in perpendicular bars of equal dimensions (the blue being nearest to the flagstaff) with the standard design of the seal of the city in blue upon the middle, or white bar, omitting the legend "Sigillum Civitatis Novi Eboraci," which colors shall be the same as those of  the flag of the United Netherlands in use in the year sixteen hundred twenty-five.
Joe McMillan, 15 August 2003

Unofficial Flag Used Until 1915

image by Mark Sensen, 21 July 2001
(before 1915 an unofficial flag was in use: a white field with the seal of that time)

In September 1609 Henry Hudson, commander of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) ship Halve Maen (Half Moon) discovered Manhattan. The VOC however was not interested, although in the next years still some voyages were made by Dutch skippers. In 1614 exclusive privileges were given to the United New Netherland Company. In 1915 Fort Nassau was build near modern Albany, but the company was dissolved in 1618. In 1621 the newly-organized Dutch West India Company (GWC) was given an octroi by the Dutch Estates General for the monopoly of America and the west coast of Africa. Most attractive was the trade in beaver skins, and a beaver was the main feature on the New Netherland provincial seal. In 1625 Director-General Pieter Minuit bought the island of Manhattan from the Indians and built there Fort Amsterdam and laid the foundations of New Amsterdam which became the capital of New Netherland and the other Dutch Colonies in the Americas.

King Charles II of Great Britain disregarded the rights of the Dutch over New Netherland and granted it in 1664 to his brother James, Duke of York and Albany. The latter as Lord High Admiral of England set up an expedition. Because the defense of the colony was very weak, Director-General Peter Stuyvesant had to surrender on 29 August/8 September **. The very same day both the province and the city were renamed New York in honor of their new ruler. However Dutch form of government by Schout, Burgomasters and Schepens was continued, until English style mayor and aldermen were installed on 14/24 June ** 1665. With the Peace of Breda in 1667 the Dutch recognized their lost definitive, but in return got Suriname.

** the Julian calendar used by the English was 10 days behind on the (modern) Georgian calendar already used by the Dutch.

Mark Sensen, 17 July 2001

Official Flag 1915-1975

image by Mark Sensen, 21 July 2001

On 24 June 1915 (exactly 250 years after transition from Dutch to English government) a new standard design of the city seal (first adopted in 1686) was adopted, described as follows:
Arms: Upon a shield, saltire-wise, the sails of a windmill. Between the sails, in chief a beaver, in base a beaver, and on each flank a flour barrel;
Supporters: Dexter, a sailor, his right arm bent, and holding in his right hand a plummet; his left arm bent, his left hand resting on the top of the shield; above his right shoulder a cross-staff. Sinister, an Indian of Manhattan, his right arm bent, his right hand resting on the top of the shield, his left hand holding the upper end of a bow, the lower end rests on the ground. Shield and supporters resting upon a horizontal laurel branch;
Date: Beneath the horizontal laurel branch the date 1664, being the year of the capture of New Amsterdam by the English and the first use of the name of the City of New York;
Crest: Upon a hemisphere, an American eagle with wings displayed;
Legend: Upon a ribbon encircling the lower half of the design the words "Sigillum Civitatis Novi Eboraci"
The whole encircled by a laurel wreath.

The windmill and flour barrels stand for early industry; the beaver was taken from the seal of New Netherland; the sailor represent the first European settlers; the Indian the original people; the eagle is taken from the state arms.

The same day a city flag and mayor's were adopted, described as follows:
A flag combining the colors orange, white and blue, arranged in perpendicular bars of equal dimensions (the blue being nearest to the staff) with the standard design of the seal of the city in blue upon the middle, or white bar, omitting the legend "Sigillum Civitatis Novi Eboraci," which said colors shall be the same as those of the flag of the United Netherlands in use in the year 1626. The official flag of the mayor shall be the same in design as the official flag of the city, except that upon the middle or white bar there shall be above the design of the seal in a semi-circle, five blue five-pointed stars; the dimensions of such flag shall be thirty-three inches by forty-four inches.

The colors are chosen to commemorate the Dutch who brought the love of civil liberty and the ideals of democratic government with them. The shade of blue back than was indigo blue. The stripes are not arranged horizontal but vertical to not make it an imitation of the early Dutch flags but a new flag, and for better displaying the seal. The flag follows the practice that the darkest bar is placed next to the staff, like the French and Belgian. The legend of the seal is omitted because it is superfluous in the flag.

Mark Sensen, 17 July 2001

Sources:
[1] John B. Pine, L.H.D., "Seal and Flag of the City of New York", New York/London, 1915.
[2] Copy of the council resolution no. 284, 20 June 1974.
[3] "Nijhoffs Geschiedenis-lexicon Nederland en België", 's-Gravenhage/Antwerpen, 1981.

The first official flag was adopted with the blue-white-orange tricolor and the year 1664 written on it. The 250th anniversary is clearly not a coincidence, I would say that the anniversary probably prompted the flag and seal redesign. The 1664/65 discrepancy is not terribly important, both mark the events of the transition from Dutch to English rule: on September 24, 1664 Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant surrendered New Amsterdam and on June 12, 1665 England installed the municipal government of New York City. Which is only preface to the Great New York City Mystery of 1975. This is only a mystery to me because I was not quite alive at that time. But note the following: in 1975, NYC changed the date on its seal from 1664 to the year 1625, marking the founding of New Amsterdam. That same year, Richmond Borough changed its name to Staten Island Borough, moving from an English to a Dutch name, and incidentally acquired a new flag (more on this below). I believe all of this must have been in commemoration of the 350th anniversary of the Dutch settlement in 1975, prompting the new seal and flag of NYC, as well as the new name and (indirectly) flag of Richmond/Staten Island Borough.
Richard Knipel, 2 August 2004

City Seal

image by Mark Sensen, 18 July 2001

Interpretation of the Symbols of the City Seal:

Eagle - - Symbol of New York State
Indian - - Represents Native Americans that were already here
Sailor with navigational tools - - Represents settlement
Beaver - - Symbol of the Dutch East India Company (This was the first company to come to New York City)
Windmill, Barrel and Flower - - Represents early industry

Dov Gutterman, 15 April 1999

The Mayor's Flag

image by Mark Sensen, 21 July 2001

From Official Directory of New York City -

Description: The same in design as the official flag of the city, except that upon the middle or white bar, and above the design of the seal in a semicircle, there shall be five blue five-pointed stars, typifying the five boroughs of the city. The dimensions of such flag are 33 inches by 44 inches.
Kurt Stutt, 1 July 1996

From the on-line city administrative code City Flag:
§ 3-101 Flag of the mayor.
The official flag of the mayor shall be the same in design as the official flag of the city. Upon the middle or white bar, however, and above the design of the seal in a semi-circle, there shall be five blue five-pointed stars, typifying the five boroughs of the city. The dimensions of such flag shall be thirty-three inches by forty-four inches.
Joe McMillan, 15 August 2003

The Councilman Flag

image by Mark Sensen, 21 July 2001

From Official Directory of New York City -
Description: The same in design as the official flag of the city, except that upon the middle or white bar there shall be below the design of the seal, in a straight line, the word "Council"; the dimensions of such flag is the same as the standard size of flags used for state and parade occasions.
Kurt Stutt, 1 July 1996

It was pointed out to me that maybe the Council Members flag image I sent is wrong so I went to the ordinance creating it and read that the word "COUNCIL" is to be located "above the seal below the crest" which is crazy language. So I looked up the Mayoral flag language and, sure enough, it reads the same. I'm guessing the Council flag is like the Mayoral flag with the word above the seal (and the crest).
Dave Martucci, 1 December 2002

From the on-line city administrative code City Flag:
§ 3-201 Councilmanic flag.
The official flag of the council shall be the same in design as the official flag of the city, except that upon the middle or white bar there shall be below (sic) the design of the seal, in a straight line, the word "Council"; the dimensions of such flag shall be the same as the standard size of flags used for state and parade occasions.
Joe McMillan, 15 August 2003

The flag of New York City has no stars on it. The City Flag with the five stars in an arc over the City Arms (which stand for the five boroughs of New York: Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island) is the Flag of the Mayor of New York. Each of the five boroughs has its own flag. This was documented in a very early edition of the FLAG BULLETIN, back in 1963 or 64 or so.
Dave Martucci, 1 July 1996

Department of Parks

image by Joe McMillan, 5 June 2000

Recalling my train ride to Montreal, I saw an unusual "maple leaf" flag -- made doubly unusual by the fact that I saw it well before I'd reached Quebec. In fact, it was in New York City, as the train passed a sports stadium of some kind -- it looked like it may have been laid out for football or soccer. Flying next to the U.S. flag above the scoreboard was a white flag with a green "maple leaf" inside a green circle in the center.
Steve Kramer, 9 May 1998

This is the Department of Parks, flown at any of its installations.
Will Linden, 10 May 1998

The City of New York Parks Department flag displays the leaf of a London Plane Tree, Platanus x acerifolia, one of the most commonly-planted trees in the city.
E. Robbins, 24 March 2003

Department of Corrections

image by Blas Delgado Ortiz, 22 June 2001

From: http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/doc/html/flag.html

During 1998, in observance of the centennial of New York City's emergence as a municipality of five boroughs, the Department of Correction formally adopted as its official flag the design displayed here.

The colors that predominate are those found in the Department emblematic shoulder patch: orange, blue, white and gold. Blue, white and orange also predominate in the official flag of the City in remembrance of colors in the United Netherlands flag that flew over the New Amsterdam settlement in 1625. The five stars surrounding the City Seal on the orange field represent the five boroughs in which the Department operates its facilities. The numerals to the left and right of the stars-surrounded seal spell out the year that the Department was created as a separate agency. The sixteen blue and white stripes represent the number of major facilities operated by the Department at the time of the design adoption.

1939 World's Fair

image by António Martins, 3 December 2001

This flag was used during the Fair held in New York in 1939.
Dave Martucci, 9 December 1999

The buildings are the trylon (a pyramid, the "triangle") and the perisphere (a sphere, the "disc"), the two buildings, no longer standing, that served as the "trademark" to the fair. There were probably exhibits inside, and probably symbolism to their shape. I have no idea what the three lines are (maybe a design element linking the two). Next time I'm at the Queens Museum of Art, located at the site of the fairs (in the New York City pavilion from 1964, the original home of the United Nations), which has a large exhibit on the two fairs (1964 too) (along with an amazing scale model of New York City, containing every building), I'll check it out.
Nathan G. Lamm, 3 December 2001

From the novel "1939: The Lost World of the Fair" [Gelernter, David Hillel; New York; The Free Press; 1995; 418 pp.]:

On p. 148- "Five thousand different flags and banners are said to be up and flying at the fair, including flags of the exhibitor nations and their colonial possessions, of exhibitor states and private companies, and specially designed theme banners marking out zones, courts and exhibits."

On p. 182- "Once more there are fountains in play, right in front of the Marine Transportation Building & a huge colorful flag- an orange boat with white sails against a blue background. (The flag was designed by twenty-five-year-old Emrich Nicholson...He'd graduated from Yale with a B.A. in Fine Arts and worked as a textile and interior designer. In June of '38 he'd applied for a job at the fair's Board of Design; the board just happened to be looking for a flag designer. Nicholson also designed flags for the Aviation Building, the Court of Communication, the Public Health building, one of the Food buildings and the Amusement Area.)"

Ned Smith, 28 May 2002

New York's 2012 Olympic bid

   images by Eugene Ipavec, 16 February 2005

These are the flags of the New York 2012 Olympics bid. I saw examples of the second one in photos of the announcement ceremony; the first one appeared on images on the official bid website: www.nyc2012.com/en/hires_images.html (site no longer available). Thy called it a logo, but it appeared in flag form on the main page.
[Flags made with minimal modification of graphics taken from the official site]
Eugene Ipavec, 16 February 2005