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Jacksonville, Florida (U.S.)

Duval County

2:3 image(s) by permission of David B. Martucci
image(s) from American City Flags, Raven 9-10 (2002-2003), courtesy of the North American Vexillological Association, which retains copyright.

Current Flag
Seal
Former flag

See also:

Current Flag

Text and image(s) from American City Flags, Raven 9-10 (2002-2003), courtesy of the North American Vexillological Association, which retains copyright. Image(s) from American City Flags by permission of David B. Martucci.

Design

Jacksonville’s flag is described in the ordinance of adoption: The official flag of the city shall be a rectangle having the dimensions in the ratio of one (hoist) to one and one-half (fly), divided horizontally into two equal panels: The upper panel has a rampant equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson in silhouette over a sunburst; the lower panel has a silhouette of Duval County and the words CITY OF JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA in a recumbent concave arc there-under, all on a solid field. The rays of the sunburst, silhouette of Duval County and the words CITY OF JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA are gold; the equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson is dark brown, the upper panel background is white and the lower panel field is orange. The statue of Jackson faces the hoist; the sunburst has 30 gold rays that extend from the midpoint of the flag behind
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Symbolism

The top half of the flag shows the statue of Andrew Jackson, the 6th president of the United States, for whom the city was named. The image, taken from the official seal, is an exact depiction of the statue in Jackson Park in New Orleans, Louisiana. (The city seal was first adopted 7 August 1888.) The map of Duval County on the lower part indicates that the city and county are now conterminous. The sunburst suggests Florida’s nickname, “The Sunshine State”.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Selection

A city council committee, dissatisfied with the previous flag, wanted a new city flag that would suggest Jackson’s new image as the “Bold New City of the South”. A contest was held through the auspices of the Bold CityFest Committee, a group organizing a civic celebration with the same name. The local chapter of the American Institute of Architects judged the 148 entries and sent five semifinalists to a committee comprising four city councilmen, the Jacksonville Area Planning Board director, the information services officer, and Mayor Hans Tanzler.
Flag adopted: 9 March 1976 (official)
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Designer

Don Bozeman, an employee of the Seaboard Coast Line, who won the $500 prize for best design.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

More about the Flag

The flag was raised at city hall for the first time in a ceremony on 1 October 1976. Although the ordinance of adoption clearly states that the figure of Andrew Jackson on the flag is brown, and the lower stripe is orange, the city has at least one flag showing the statue as black and the lower stripe as red, possibly a manufacturing error.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

The city's website confirms that the town was named after Andrew Jackson, who was (among other things) the first U.S. military governor of the Florida territory. I was in Jacksonville for a conference last summer and noticed the flag flying here and there. I can also add that the image on the flag mirrors a statue of Jackson near the downtown Jacksonville Landing shopping/entertainment area. This statue, in turn, looks a lot like (maybe is a copy of?) the statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, I don't know the order in which ... statue was made/statue was copied/city seal was adopted/city flag was adopted.

Some sources:
http://www.kestan.com/travel/dc/monument/ (photo of DC statue)
http://www.coj.net (Jacksonville city website)
http://www.jacksonvillelanding.com (there may be an image of the statue on the site's 'virtual tour')

Andrew S Rogers, 7 March 2002

The City of Jacksonville website further states:

The Seal and Logo of the City of Jacksonville
On October 1, 1968, the government of the City of Jacksonville and the government of Duval County were replaced with a new government called the Consolidated City of Jacksonville. On that same day, Jacksonville's new City Council passed an ordinance declaring the official seal of the former government of the City of Jacksonville to be the official seal of the new consolidated city. The seal features an equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson, the man for whom Jacksonville was named. The statue depicted stands in Washington, D.C. and a duplicate now stands in downtown Jacksonville.

The City of Jacksonville's Official Flag
In 1914, at the beginning of World War I, Jacksonville's City Council decided the city needed an official flag, and proceeded to adopt one. The Florida Times-Union newspaper described the official standard as consisting "of the word Jacksonville in a script across the field of the flag, a brilliant red poinsettia rising above this scrip and on the field below gates suggesting the Florida gateway and the city seal."

Sixty-one years later, in 1975, City Councilman Johnny Sanders introduced a resolution authorizing a public competition to create a new city flag. The contest would be held in conjunction with that year's Bold CityFest, an annual celebration of the October 1, 1968 consolidation of the previous city and county governments. The Bold CityFest Committee and the Jacksonville Chapter of the American Institute of Architects organized the event, setting a November 14 deadline. Among the competition rules was: "No specific elements will be required in the design. Possible themes...may include the City seal, the St. Johns River, consolidated government, or Andrew Jackson." The contest elicited 148 entries. The AIA conducted preliminary judging and submitted five designs as semifinalists to a judging committee composed of four City Council members, the Area Planning Board director, the Information Services (Public Information) Division chief, and Mayor Hans Tanzler.

Don Bozeman, a Seaboard Coastline Railroad employee, submitted the winning entry, earning a $500 check from the Bold CityFest Committee. The City Council adopted the design as the official city flag on February 24, 1976. A news release described the new flag: "In the three-color flag design, the upper half has an equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson silhouetted in brown over a golden sunburst. The lower half is solid orange, with a silhouette outline of Duval County and the words 'City of Jacksonville, Florida,' in gold."

City Ordinance Code 130.102 addresses the city flag: "The official flag of the city shall be a rectangle having the dimensions in the ratio one of (hoist) to one and one-half (fly), divided horizontally into two equal panels: The upper panel has a rampant equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson in silhouette over sunburst; the lower panel has a silhouette of Duval County and the words CITY OF JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA in a recumbent concave arc thereunder, all on a solid field. The rays of the sunburst, silhouette of Duval County and the words CITY OF JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA are gold; the equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson is dark brown, the upper panel background is white and the lower panel field is orange."

On Consolidation Day (October 1) 1976, Mayor Tanzler raised the new flag in front of the City Hall on Bay Street. Today, Jacksonville's banner flies on flagpoles at a number of city government buildings.
Andrew Grayot, 13 August 2004

Seal

image located by Paul Bassinson, 24 June 2019

Source: http://www.coj.net
Paul Bassinson, 24 June 2019

Former Flag

An image of the former flag in black and white appears on the city website: www.coj.net/About+Jacksonville/More+Jax+Facts.htm:

"In 1914, Jacksonville's City Council decided the city needed an official flag, and proceeded to adopt one. The Florida Times-Union newspaper described the official standard as consisting "of the word Jacksonville in a script across the field of the flag, a brilliant red poinsettia rising above this scrip and on the field below gates suggesting the Florida gateway and the city seal."

2:3 image(s) by permission of David B. Martucci
image(s) from American City Flags, Raven 9-10 (2002-2003), courtesy of the North American Vexillological Association, which retains copyright.

Source: www.coj.net/About+Jacksonville/More+Jax+Facts.htm, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Jacksonville,_Florida
Valentin Poposki, 29 December 2007, 11 August 2010

Field white. In the upper left quarter is shown a gateway, from which diagonally across the field is projected a green pennon bearing in white letters the word "Jacksonville." In the center rising above the pennon is a brilliant red poinsettia with green foliage. In the lower left quarter the seal of Jacksonville is shown. The flag was designed by G.D. Ackerly and was adopted by the Council as the City's official flag January 15, 1914. The design denotes, "Jacksonville, the Gateway to Florida".
Doug Bloudoff, 20 February 2012

The dimensions of Jacksonville’s previous flag were not specified and varied somewhat according to the manufacturer, but were generally 3:5. The field of the flag is white. In the upper hoist corner are two red gateposts with rounded tops. Coming from behind the post closest to the hoist and curving across the bottom of the second post and extending in a flowing fashion across the field diagonally to166 American City Flags JP ward the lower fly is a wide dark green ribbon, notched on both ends. Across the ribbon in large white block letters is JACKSONVILLE. Behind the ribbon, and occupying most of the center portion of the field are two long-stemmed red poinsettias in full bloom. In the lower hoist corner is a variation of the city seal, showing Jackson’s statue in black facing the fly and surrounded by a red-edged white ring on which CITY OF JACKSONVILLE arches over the top and FLORIDA curves counterclockwise below, all in red. The gateposts and ribbon recall the former motto of Jacksonville, “The Gateway to Florida”. The poinsettias represent Florida.

A number of incorrect facts concerning the adoption and designer of the flag were quoted for a number of years in various sources, evidently originating in a 1925 book by T. Frederick Davis, History of Jacksonville, Florida and Vicinity, 1513 to 1924. Davis wrote that the flag was designed by G. D. Ackerly and adopted by council on 15 January 1914. However, later research reveals that the flag was adopted on 21 January 1914, and the designer was, in fact, Edmund Jackson, whom Ackerly (then the city recorder) instructed with this colorful admonition: “I don’t want no snakes, I don’t want no alligators, and I don’t want no coconuts.” What he got, of course, were poinsettias!
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003