Coat of arms of New York

For flag of the city, seeFlags of New York City.

Thecoat of arms of the U.S. state of New York was formally adopted in 1778, and appears as a component ofthe state'sflag andseal.

Coat of arms of the State of New York

Versions
Great Seal of the State of New York

Armiger	State of New York
Adopted	1882, modified 1896, 1901, and 2020
Crest	An American eagle with wings displayed, surmounting a globe displaying the Atlantic hemisphere
Shield	Azure, in a landscape, the sun in fess, rising in splendor a river, bordered below by a grassy shore fringed with shrubs, all proper.
Supporters	Liberty andJustice
Motto	Excelsior E Pluribus Unum

Flag of the State of New York


Use	Civil andstate flag
Proportion	1:2
Adopted	April 2, 1901; 124 years ago (1901-04-02) (modified in April 2020)
Design	A state coat of arms on a blue field.


Flag of thegovernor of New York

Proportion	3:5

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

The shield has twosupporters:

Left:Liberty, with theRevolutionary imagery of aPhrygian cap raised on a pole. Her left foot treads upon acrown that represents freedom from theBritish monarchy that once ruled what is nowNew York as a colony.
Right:Justice, wearing a blindfold (representing impartiality) and holdingscales (representing fairness) and thesword of justice.

A banner below the shield shows the mottoExcelsior, a Latin word meaning "higher", "superior", "lordly", commonly translated as "Ever Upward." Following the adoption of the 2021 State Budget in April 2020, a secondary motto,E pluribus unum, appears.^[1]^[2]

Flags bearing the pre-2020 coat of arms (i.e. without the mottoE pluribus unum) are still widely used andde facto valid, so long as serviceable.

The shield is surmounted by acrest consisting of aneagle surmounting a worldglobe.

Theflag of New York is the coat of arms on a solid blue background and the stateseal of New York is the coat of arms surrounded by the words "The Great Seal of the State of New York." It is one of nine U.S. state flags to feature an eagle, alongside those ofIllinois,Iowa,Michigan,Missouri,North Dakota,Oregon,Pennsylvania andWyoming.

Blazon

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The officialblazon for the coat of arms is:

Charge.Azure, in a landscape, the sun infess, rising in splendor or, behind a range of three mountains, the middle one the highest; in base a ship andsloop under sail, passing and about to meet on a river, bordered below by a grassy shore fringed with shrubs, allproper.

Crest. On a wreath azure and or, anAmerican eagle proper, rising to the Dexter from a two-thirds of a globe terrestrial, showing thenorth Atlantic ocean with outlines of its shores.

Supporters. On a quasi compartment formed by the extension of the scroll.

Dexter. The figure ofLiberty proper, her hair disheveled and decorated with pearls, vested azure, sandaledgules, about the waist acincture or, fringed gules, a mantle of the last depending from the shoulders behind to the feet, in the dexter hand a staff ensigned with a Phrygian cap or, the sinister arm embowed, the hand supporting the shield at the dexter chief point, aroyal crown by her sinister foot dejected.

Sinister. The figure ofJustice proper, her hair disheveled and decorated with pearls, vested or, about the waist a cincture azure, fringed gules, sandaled and mantled as Liberty, bound about the eyes with afillet proper, in the dexter hand a straight sword hilted or, erect, resting on the sinister chief point of the shield, the sinister arm embowed, holding before her scales proper.

Motto. On a scroll below the shieldargent, insable, two lines. On line one, Excelsior and on line two,E pluribus unum.

Interpretation

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

In the center, a shield reveals the sun rising behindMount 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".^[3]

History

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Late 18th century rendition of New York's coat of arms, using a semi-globe and rounded shield.

Late 19th century rendition of New York's coat of arms, using a semi-globe and rounded shield.

Coat of arms of New York from 1896 until the addition of second motto in 2020.

The first version of the coat of arms on the state flag was adopted in 1778 and has been slightly redesigned over the years. The present flag itself is a contemporary variant of an American Revolutionary War-era flag. The original is at theAlbany Institute of History & Art.

Etching of the 1896 state flag^[4]

The flag was not well defined at first, but variations of a flag with the state's coat of arms have existed since 1777. In 1858 the Adjutant General's office issued that the state flag features the state's coat of arms over a white background.^[5] On March 16, 1888Mayor Hewitt of New York City ordered that the state flag should fly overCity Hall onSt. Patrick's Day.^[6] The flag was formally adopted by the state legislature in 1896 featuring abuff background sinceGeorge Washington mandated regiments from New York and New Jersey wear bufffacings. However, this choice of color for the flag proved unpopular in New York as it was the custom for military flags to be blue with the coat of arms, as they had been for New York troops during and before theCivil War. The legislature changed the field of the flag from buff to blue by a law enacted on April 2, 1901.^[7]

In April 2020, the 2021 state budget was passed, modifying the coat of arms to include "E Pluribus Unum" as a secondary motto beneath "Excelsior".^[1]^[8] The state seal and flag were also updated to reflect the change.^[9]^[10]

In 2001, theNorth American Vexillological Association (NAVA) surveyed its members on the designs of the 72U.S. state,U.S. territorial, andCanadian provincial flags. After the survey was completed, NAVA members chose the flag of New York to be ranked 53rd out of the 72.^[11]

Historical state flags of New York