Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Coat of arms of New York

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Armiger
  
State of New York

Supporters
  
Liberty and Justice

Adopted
  
1778 (Seal and CoA)

Motto
  
Excelsior

Coat of arms of New York

Escutcheon
  
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.

The coat of arms of the state of New York was formally adopted in 1778, and appears as a component of the state's flag and seal.

Contents

The shield displays a masted ship and a sloop on the Hudson River (symbols of inland and foreign commerce), bordered by a grassy shore and a mountain range in the background with the sun rising behind it. The unheraldic nature of the Hudson River landscape reveals the modern origin of the design.

The shield has 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 British monarchy that once ruled what is now New York as a colony.
  • Right: Justice, wearing a blindfold (representing impartiality) and holding scales (representing fairness) and a sword.

    • A banner below the shield shows the motto Excelsior, a Latin word meaning "higher", "superior", "lordly", commonly translated as "Ever Upward."

    The shield is surmounted by a crest consisting of an eagle surmounting a world globe.

    The flag of the state of New York is the coat of arms on a solid blue background. The state seal of New York is the coat of arms surrounded by the words "The Great Seal of the State of New York."

    Blazon

    The official blazon for the coat of arms is:

    Interpretation

    According to Joseph Gavit in New York History, Volume XXXI, the seal symbolizes the following:

  • In the center, a shield reveals the sun rising behind Mount Beacon over the Hudson River. "The shield symbolizes in the full sun the name and idea of Old York and the old world; the mountains, river and meadow, with the ships, convey the name and idea of New York in the new world."
  • To the right, Justice is ready to fight tyranny with her sword held high.
  • Liberty on the left, holds her foot on the overthrown English Crown. "This New York is supported by Justice and Liberty, and discards monarchy."
  • The world globe is displayed above the shield. "By exhibiting the eastern and western continents on the globe, the old and new are brought together;"
  • Above the world globe soars the eagle. "while the eagle on the crest proclaims," Westward the course of empire takes its way."
  • The bottom ribbon exclaims "Excelsior," which means "still higher" or "ever upward."

    • History

    The coat 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 & Art.

    The legislature changed the field of the flag from buff to blue by a law enacted on April 2, 1901.

    In 2001, the North American Vexillological Association surveyed its members on the designs of the 72 U.S. state, U.S. territorial, and Canadian provincial flags. After the survey was completed, NAVA members chose the flag of New York to be ranked 53rd out of the 72.

    References

    Coat of arms of New York Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA