Use Civil and state flag | Proportion 3:4 | |
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Adopted September 9, 1897; 119 years ago (1897-09-09) Design White shield with three grapevines on a field of azure blue. | ||
The flag of the state of Connecticut is a white baroque shield with three grapevines, each bearing three bunches of purple grapes on a field of azure blue. The banner below the shield reads "Qui Transtulit Sustinet", Latin for "He who transplanted still sustains"), Connecticut's state motto. The flag dimensions are 5.5 feet (1.7 m) in length and 4.33 feet (1.32 m) in width.
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History
The Connecticut General Assembly approved the flag in 1897 after it was introduced by Governor Owen Vincent Coffin in 1895.
The design comes from the seal of Saybrook Colony, designed by George Fenwick when it was established in 1639. That seal depicted 15 grapevines and a hand in the upper left corner with a scroll reading "Sustinet qui transtulit". When Connecticut Colony bought Saybrook in 1644, the seal transferred to Connecticut Colony. On October 25, 1711, the governor and legislature changed the seal. They reduced the number of grapevines from 15 to three, in order to represent the three oldest settlements (Windsor, Wethersfield, and Hartford) (or possibly the three separate settlements, Connecticut Colony, Saybrook Colony, and New Haven Colony, which had been absorbed into Connecticut by that time) and rearranged the wording and position of the motto.
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. The survey ranked the Connecticut flag 50th out of 72.
Flying the flag at half mast
The flag is traditionally at half mast when the American flag is flown at half mast, which may be ordered by the President or by the Governor. According to 2007-R-0624, only the governor of Connecticut may decide to fly the state flag at half mast, though the right is a power of office and not a law. Typically this is done upon the death of a Connecticut resident in the armed forces, but has been done in the past for the funerals of past state governors, state representatives, or for an event considered tragic for the state.