^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Concord, New Hampshire

Merrimack County

3:5 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
City flag according to City Code
City flag actually used in City Chambers
The Reconstruction of Concord's Flag History
Seal

See also:

New Hampshire Technical Institute Concord's Community College
University of New Hampshire
Merrimack County
County and Municipal Flags of New Hampshire
New Hampshire
United States of America

External sites:
Dave Martucci's page describing his unraveling of the story of the flags of Concord (pdf)

Design

The City flag shall be of the design indicated below with or without the words CONCORD and NEW HAMPSHIRE as they appear thereon. The official design and color scheme of the flag will be on file with the City Clerk. (Section 1-2-3 of the Concord City Code)

The flag has three vertical stripes of dark blue, white, and dark blue, with the center stripe being twice as wide as the other two stripes. On the center white stripe is a Concord Coach in red with a black outline and with yellow wheels, with CONCORD above the coach and NEW HAMPSHIRE below it, all in dark blue block letters. The alternative official version omits the words.
James Croft, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Symbolism

Concord, New Hampshire, was the birthplace of the famous Concord Coach. In 1827 Lewis Downing, who owned a wagon wheel shop in Concord, formed a partnership with J. Stephen Abbott and developed their famous coach, which provided a smoother ride than its predecessors. Their company, Abbott, Downing & Company, and its successors produced thousands of stagecoaches until it was dissolved and the name acquired by Wells Fargo in 1927.
James Croft, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Selection

Unknown.
James Croft, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Designer

Unknown.
James Croft, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

More about the Flag

A flag different from the 1979 code currently hangs in the city manager’s office. It has a dark blue vertical hoist stripe, one-third the width of the flag. On the remaining white field is a Concord Coach with CONCORD above and NEW HAMPSHIRE below, as in the official version adopted in 1979. While these inscriptions read correctly on the reverse of the flag, the coach runs the opposite direction. In addition, the red Concord Coach’s body has black ornamentation on it.
James Croft, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

City flag according to City Code

With text

image by Dave Martucci, 7 May 2002

Without Text

image by Dave Martucci, 7 May 2002

City flag actually used in City Chambers

image by Dave Martucci, 7 May 2002

The flag used in the City Chambers differs from the flag officially described, having only one blue bar. The reverse of this flag retains the arrangement of the stagecoach, so is not a mirror image:

image by Dave Martucci, 7 May 2002

The Reconstruction of Concord's Flag History

Based on the above incomplete research, I have arranged the flags of Concord in the order I believe they should be in chronologically. More research, as noted, needs to be done to verify these designs and dates.
Dave Martucci, 7 May 2002

City Flag prior to 1950 (de facto)

image by Dave Martucci

About 1950 a de facto city flag had three equal vertical stripes of white, dark blue, and white. On the center stripe is the city seal in color with a dove holding a red scroll inscribed with NEW HAMPSHIRE in gold over the top. CITY OF appears on the hoist stripe and CONCORD on the fly stripe, all in gold.
James Croft, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

This flag was located in the auditorium of the Public Library. This flag is made of a synthetic fabric, probably Nylon, three vertical stripes of white-blue-white, with the City Seal appliquéd and embroidered in the center, with a dove holding a red scroll inscribed "NEW HAMPSHIRE" in gold over the top and the words "CITY OF" in gold on the hoist stripe and "CONCORD" in gold on the fly stripe. The flag is in pretty poor condition and my examination leads me to believe the flag was probably made around 1950, which seems about right given the further information we uncovered.
Dave Martucci, 7 May 2002

City Flag prior to 1979 (de jure, reconstructed)

image by Dave Martucci, 7 May 2002

In the City Clerk's Office the Assistant handed me a newspaper clipping. It was published in the Concord Monitor on 22 October 1979. The cover illustration was in full color and showed yet another flag (that's five!) that was being proposed to the City Council. [see above] It shows two unequal vertical stripes of blue-white and has a white dove and star on the blue and the Concord Coach and two inscriptions, "CITY OF CONCORD, N.H." arched over the top in blue and "1853" in white on a blue scroll below.

The article, entitled "Coach, Dove And Star Highlight Flag Committee's Offering," by Randall Keith, Monitor Staff Writer, was printed on page 2. It explained the symbols as follows:

a dove holding an olive branch for peace, which in Latin is "concord".
a star showing Concord is the State Capital.
the blue is the color of New Hampshire.
the Concord Coach represents Concord.
1853 is the year the City was incorporated.

The article also gave some of the background of the design. It was the result of an eight-month search by a Council Committee. The committee, headed by Councillor John F. Upton, reviewed "five or six designs submitted by residents and decided that instead of picking one, they would use the best features of each." The committee "tried out different combinations and placements" of the symbols.

The article also states Wendell and Ralph Holt, who were owners of "a flag and home furnishings shop on South Street" helped with the design and gathered information on production costs. At the point it was written, the next step was to present the design at a public hearing that was scheduled for 13 November 1979 and then a Council vote. As previously stated, the official flag was adopted less than two months later, on 10 December 1979.

The article also states there were two existing City Flags and the description of neither of them matches the flags discovered so far! That makes flags number six and seven!!

According to Keith, the City Code as it existed in October 1979 described an official flag as having "three equal-sized stripes -- white, blue and white -- with the city seal in the upper left hand corner and a white dove in the middle of the blue stripe."

Another flag was also described. "The second design was produced in 1951 by a local high school student. It has three vertical bars -- blue, white and blue -- with the city seal in the middle of the white stripe. The words 'City of Concord' run across the bottom of the flag."
Dave Martucci, 7 May 2002

Official flag in 1979(?)

image by Dave Martucci, 7 May 2002

City Flag design of 1951 by a local high school student (de facto, reconstructed).

image by Dave Martucci, 7 May 2002

Seal

image located by Paul Bassinson, 2 October 2019

Source: https://www.concordnh.gov/
Paul Bassinson, 2 October 2019