New York City & Boroughs
Flag Redesigns
The flags of the City of New York and its boroughs have always been of interest to me. Having visited New York City often in my youth, I got to see, at the very least, the New York City flag waving in many locations. That said, I was always frustrated by the "seal on a bedsheet", or words on many of these flags. I know New York can do so much better, which is why I decided to redesign the flag of the city along with those of its five boroughs: Brooklyn, The Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.
As you'll see my redesigns are intended to promote a uniformity among all the flags, being that they are all tied to the City of New York. However, I also wanted to maintain the historical nature of each flag, which makes them distinctive and unique from one another.
CURRENT
Redesign
New York City
New York City's current flag, while breaking a cardinal rule of "no words or seals", is not a terrible flag. The blue-white-orange colors are very distinctive and unique. As stated in the NYC administrative code the colors were meant to be, "the same as those of the flag of the United Netherlands in use in the year sixteen hundred twenty-five".
The major problem is that this iconic flag has many different versions in use from having the seal, to having the seal to having no seal. With this inconsistency being the main problem, my solution is to remove the seal from the current flag. By removing the seal, the city maintains the history of the flag and its uniqueness. Additionally, New Yorkers have a clear, powerful, and timeless symbol.
The Bronx
Adopted in 1912, the current flag of The Bronx has a horizontal tricolor that uses different shades than that of the New York City flag, but mimics the historical Dutch tricolor more closely. In the center of the current flag, is a wreath circling the Bronck family arms where, "the shield of the family arms shows the face of the sun with rays displayed rising from the sea,
signifying peace, liberty, and commerce" (Wikipedia).
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In my redesign, I kept the main feature of the arms, the rising sun over the sea. This feature is prominent in much of New York's symbolism, but by redesigning the flag in this way, it maintains the original 103 year meaning of the flag, while still paying homage to the namesake of the borough. The colors are also altered to the NYC flag's shades of orange and blue to show relation.
Manhattan
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The current flag of Manhattan is a carbon copy of the New York City flag, with the words "Borough of Manhattan" and "November 1, 1683" around the city seal. I believe that having the flag's seal modified to fit the borough was a poor means of connecting the New York City to its borough.
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In my redesign, I followed the same pattern in using the same layout as my redesigned New York City flag. In thinking about a design element to make the flag Manhattan's flag, I placed in the center a graphical representation of the world. People from across the globe come to visit or create their life in the city and to symbolize this borough as the world's borough I believe makes this a good flag. I decided to also not include the outlines of nations as it would complicate the design.
Queens
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The current flag of Queens features three horizontal bands in a sky blue-white-sky blue pattern, representative of the arms of the 1st Dutch Governor Willem Kieft. It also features a ring of wampum representing the place where the Lenape natives would collect clams and whelks used to make it, a tulip representing the early Dutch settlers, a Tudor rose representing England and the English monarchy, and lastly in the canton (upper left corner) is a crown with "Queens Borough 1898 (Wikipedia).
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In my redesign, I changed the flag dimensions to fit a traditional style found today. I also eliminated the tulip and the Tudor rose because they were redundant symbols and complicated the original design. I removed the words and made the crown the main feature of the flag as the namesake of the borough is "Queens". It represents the English monarchy and the colors of the flag represent the Dutch. The orange color, also connects it with the New York City flag. Lastly, the ring of wampum is simplified and encircles the crown, keeping the changes subtle, but maintaining the symbolism of the original 1913 flag.
Staten Island
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The current flag of Staten Island is actually a 2016 redesign. Unfortunately, it follows the repeated pattern of being a "seal on a bedsheet". The current flag is in "earth tones" and features "an allegoric female figure representing the city standing on the island's shore and looking out onto the Narrows, where Henry Hudson's ship The Half Moon is at anchor. In the background is a small canoe with three oystermen; two native Staten Islanders, and the third a sailor from the Half Moon" (Wikipedia).
In this flag redesign, I put five wavy blue lines on a white field which is a symbol from a prior flag of Staten Island symbolizing the bodies of water that surround the island. The main feature of the flag is an orange circle with two ducks in the middle, a connection to the first flag of the borough, when it was known as Richmond Borough. The blue semi circle represents Henry Hudson's Half Moon, and the orange circle itself takes the place of Staten Island being it is surrounded by water.
Brooklyn
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The current flag of Brooklyn dates back to 1860. It features the city seal on a white background. In the seal, the goddess Justice holds a fasces, a "traditional emblem of unity". "The fasces is composed of six rods representing the six towns of the original Dutch settlement". Additionally the blue and gold "in the border of the seal reflect recognized colors of the borough" (Wikipedia).
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In my redesign, I shifted the layout to a vertical tricolor, to show a relationship with the NYC flag. The flag is in a blue-white-gold sequence to make the borough colors more pronounced. In the center, I removed a rod of the fasces for aesthetics and have the axe blade coming out of the side rather than the top. The six rods of the fasces maintain the original symbolism.
