Why is the New York flag orange and blue?

That is the New York City flag, not the state flag. The city flag uses blue, white and orange, taken from the colors of the Dutch flag of colonial New Amsterdam. The state flag is dark blue with the state coat of arms.

What is the official flag of New York?

The official state flag is a dark blue field with the state coat of arms in the center. The legislature set this design in 1901.

What do the symbols on New York's flag mean?

Liberty and Justice flank a shield showing the Hudson River, ships and a rising sun over mountains. The eagle on a globe sits above, and the motto Excelsior, meaning ever upward, is on the scroll below.

Can you fly the New York state flag above the U.S. flag?

No. Under the U.S. Flag Code, the national flag is flown at the position of honor, above any state flag. When flown on separate poles, the U.S. flag is placed to its own right.

When did New York change its flag?

The current flag goes back to 1901, though the coat of arms on it dates to 1778 and has been redrawn since. The state has not adopted a fundamentally new flag.

New York Flag: Meaning, Coat of Arms & History

The New York flag is a dark blue field carrying the state coat of arms in the center, with Liberty and Justice on either side of a shield. It was adopted in 1901 and is one of many U.S. state flags built around a coat of arms.

What the New York state flag looks like

The state flag of New York has a plain dark blue field with the full coat of arms of the state placed in the middle. There are no stripes or stars. The arms are detailed, so the flag is easier to recognize up close than from a distance.

The central element is a shield. It shows a sun rising behind a range of mountains, and in front of them a river with two ships: a sloop on one side and a larger ship on the other. On either side of the shield stand two female figures. On the left is Liberty, with a pole topped by a liberty cap and a crown lying at her feet. On the right is Justice, blindfolded and holding scales and a sword.

Above the shield sits an eagle perched on a globe, and below it a white scroll carries the state motto, Excelsior. The flag's ratio is 2:3.

New York flag meaning and symbolism

Each part of the arms refers to the state's character and history. The river and the ships point to the Hudson River and to trade and shipping, which shaped New York's economy early on. The rising sun and mountains are usually read as a symbol of a bright future and the natural landscape.

Liberty with the crown at her feet is commonly said to represent freedom from monarchy after the American Revolution. Justice stands for the rule of law. The eagle on a globe is a symbol of watchfulness and of a state looking out across the world. Excelsior is Latin and is usually translated as "ever upward".

The dark blue field is sometimes described as matching the blue of the U.S. flag. Unlike the flag of New York City, the state flag has no orange, a point many people ask about.

History of the New York flag

New York's coat of arms goes back to the American Revolution. The state first adopted arms in 1778, and the design has been redrawn several times since, which is why older versions look different from the current one. A flag with the arms was used by New York regiments for generations, but the version we know today became the state flag by law in 1901, when the legislature set a blue field with the coat of arms.

Since then the flag has remained essentially the same, though the arms were slightly adjusted later in the 20th century and the exact shades of blue have been specified in more detail. New York has never replaced the design with a wholly new one, unlike states such as Minnesota or Utah that recently adopted new flags. For a wider comparison, see the U.S. state flags page.

State flag versus the New York City flag

People searching for the "New York flag" often mean the flag of the city, which looks entirely different. The New York City flag has three vertical bands of blue, white and orange, with the city seal on the white band. Its colors come from the Dutch flag of the colonial era, when the settlement was New Amsterdam. The state flag has no orange, which answers a common question.

The state flag is flown across New York State. Under flag etiquette in the United States, state flags may not be flown above the national flag; the flag of the United States takes the position of honor. Other well-known state designs are listed in the flags of the world section.