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New Hampshire (U.S.)

image by Clay Moss, 4 February 2009

Description
State Seal
1909-1931 flag
Trivia

See also:

One of the original 13 colonies, New Hampshire is represented by a star and a stripe on the 13 star U.S. flags.

Description

The state flag shall be of the following color and design: The body or field shall be blue and shall bear upon its center in suitable proportion and colors a representation of the state seal. The seal shall be surrounded by a wreath of laurel leaves with nine stars interspersed. When used for military purposes the flag shall conform to the regulations of the United States.

New Hampshire did not officially adopt a state flag until 1909. Prior to that, New Hampshire had numerous regimental flags to represent the state. The flag has only been changed once, in 1931 when the state's seal was modified.

The body of the flag is blue. The center of the flag has the state's seal with the frigate Raleigh -- all surrounded by laurel leaves and nine stars.

Chris Young, 3 August 1999

State Seal

New Hampshire Revised Statutes
Section 3:9 State Seal. - The seal of the state shall be 2 inches in diameter, circular, with the following detail and no other:

A field crossed by a straight horizon line of the sea, above the center of the field; concentric with the field the rising sun, exposed above the horizon about 1/3 of its diameter; the field encompassed with laurel; across the field for the full width within the laurel a broadside view of the frigate Raleigh, on the stocks; the ship's bow dexter and higher than the stern; the 3 lower masts shown in place, together with the fore, main and mizzen tops, shrouds and mainstays; an ensign staff at the stern flies the United States flag authorized by act of Congress June 14, 1777; a jury staff on the mainmast and another on the foremast each flies a pennant; flags and pennants are streaming to the dexter side; the hull is shown without a rudder; below the ship the field is divided into land and water by a double diagonal line whose highest point is sinister; no detail is shown anywhere on the water, nor any on the land between the water and the stocks except a granite boulder on the dexter side; encircling the field is the inscription,
SEAL . OF . THE . STATE . OF . NEW HAMPSHIRE,
the words separated by round periods, except between the parts of New Hampshire; at the lowest point of the inscription is the date 1776, flanked on either side by a 5-pointed star, which group separates the beginning and end of the inscription

Joe McMillan, 16 February 2000

1909-1931 flag

The 1931 Seal's is described and shown at https://www.nh.gov/nhinfo/seal.html:

State Seal.
The seal of the state shall be 2 inches in diameter, circular, with the following detail and no other: A field crossed by a straight horizon line of the sea, above the center of the field; concentric with the field the rising sun, exposed above the horizon about 1/3 of its diameter; the field encompassed with laurel; across the field for the full width within the laurel a broadside view of the frigate Raleigh, on the stocks; the ship's bow dexter and higher than the stern; the 3 lower masts shown in place, together with the fore, main and mizzen tops, shrouds and mainstays; an ensign staff at the stern flies the United States flag authorized by act of Congress June 14, 1777; a jury staff on the mainmast and another on the foremast each flies a pennant; flags and pennants are streaming to the dexter side; the hull is shown without a rudder; below the ship the field is divided into land and water by a double diagonal line whose highest point is sinister; no detail is shown anywhere on the water, nor any on the land between the water and the stocks except a granite boulder on the dexter side; encircling the field is the inscription, SEAL OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, the words separated by round periods, except between the parts of New Hampshire; at the lowest point of the inscription is the date 1776, flanked on either side by a 5-pointed star, which group separates the beginning and end of the inscription; the whole form and design to be as follows: [image shown above from p. 38]

Source: www.nh.gov

The NHHS (New Hampshire Historical Society) (official website: www.nhhistory.org) was hired by request from Governor John G. Winant to make some recommendations on the State's symbols, and these recommendations were later accepted and incorporated in the legislation that was latter passed as State Law in 1931 (www.gencourt.state.nh.us).

NHHS Director Otis G. Hammond wrote the book "History of the Seal and Flag of the Sate of New Hampshire" (archive.org) in 1916 and was the basis for the later law. In his book he also shows a historical flag of the State of New Hampshire (1916), which is the flag approved by State Law on February 24, 1909.
Esteban Rivera, 8 February 2016

Trivia

It is interesting to note that the New Hampshire state flag is the only state flag that depicts another state on its flag. The illustration of the seal is of the frigate Raleigh under construction on a sand bar which at the time the seal was made was part of Massachusetts and is now part of Maine.
James J. Ferrigan III, 3 March 2000