Catalog

Year Adopted: 1896.

Official Color: Buff (yellow tan).

New Jersey is one of the thirteen original states and became the third state to ratify the Constitution in 1787. The New Jersey State flag displays official State colors. The State seal is presented in Jersey blue on a buff background. The colors were chosen by General George Washington in 1779, after he was headquartered in New Jersey during the Revolutionary war. These were the military colors used by the New Jersey troops. New Jersey's state seal was designed in 1777.

The State seal in the center of the flag contains a horse's head. A helmet showing that New Jersey governs itself and three plows on a shield referring to the State's agriculture tradition, giving it the nickname "Garden State". The two Goddesses represent the State motto, "Liberty and Prosperity". Liberty is on the left. She is holding a staff with a liberty cap on it, and the word liberty underneath her. The goddess on the right is Ceres, goddess of agriculture. She is holding a cornucopia with prosperity written below her. (ref; njleg.gov, New Jersey State Flag; or see: state.nj.us, Facts and Symbols)