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Bridgeport, Connecticut (U.S.)

Fairfield County

image located by Valentin Poposki, 12 December, 2007
source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgeport,_Connecticut

Current Flag
Bridgeport
Detail of seal
Police Department

See also:

Bridgeport

Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and the fifth-largest city in New England. Located in Fairfield County, the city has an estimated population of 137,912 and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area, which itself is considered part of the labor market area for New York City. Bridgeport was originally a part of the township of Stratford. The first settlement here was made in 1659. It was called Pequonnock until 1695, when its name was changed to Stratfield, due to its location between the already existing towns of Stratford and Fairfield. During the American Revolution it was a center of privateering. In 1800 the borough of Bridgeport was chartered, and in 1821 the township was incorporated. The city was not chartered until 1836.

More about the city and an image of the flag in Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgeport,_Connecticut.
Valentin Poposki, 12 December 2007

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

The city resolution states:

The field of the official flag shall be dark blue and the figures on said field shall consist of the following: The Official Seal and the words City of Bridgeport, Connecticut in gold under the seal and a suitable fringe shall be provided.

The de facto design does not follow exactly the official description in the above resolution. The current flag places City of Bridgeport above the seal and Connecticut below. The lettering is gold in an Old English font. The seal is rendered in natural colors rather than in gold. The seal portrays a view of the city’s economic and civic life.

In the center of the lower third of the seal are an anvil and a cogwheel; below the anvil is a cornucopia. Above the anvil is a shield bearing a right arm holding a hammer, with a rising sun behind three hills. Above the shield is an American eagle with wings spread, facing the hoist, upon a globe, with a scroll in its beak reading INDUSTRIA CRESCIMUS (“By Industry We Thrive”). On the observer’s right of the seal is a section of a bridge, with mills above and a train below. To the observer’s left are a sailing ship and a harbor scene. Above this are a grain elevator, railroad roundhouse, and church spire. Below the ship is an old-fashioned fire engine. A sewing machine is below the train and next to the anvil. In the blue ring surrounding the seal appear SEAL OF THE CITY OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT clockwise above, and INCORPORATED 1835 counterclockwise below, all in gold.
James Croft, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Symbolism

Bridgeport is an industrial city whose manufacturing development accelerated after the Civil War. The anvil, cogwheel, and hammer symbolize industry; the cornucopia is for wealth. The bridge recalls the origin of the city’s name (Bridgeport’s name derives from the first drawbridge over the Pequonock River). The sailing ship represents maritime commerce (Bridgeport is a coastal city on Long Island Sound). Bridgeport was one of the first cities to manufacture sewing machines and has a monument to the inventor, Elias Howe.
James Croft, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Selection

The flag was created for the city’s centennial commemoration in 1936. Alderman Taft proposed a resolution to adopt this design as the civic flag, which the city council approved by a 15-1 vote.
Flag adopted: 17 February 1936.
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

Bridgeport has had two seals. The seal in use today on the civic flag was designed by Julian H. Sterling and adopted by the common council in 1873. It is a revision of the original seal.
James Croft, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Detail of Seal

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 6 February, 2008
Based on en.wikipedia.org

Police Department

image located by Ethan Dubrow, 19 July 2024

The flag is a vertical tribar of green-white-green with a police badge in the center. In green text, the top and bottom of the white bar read "POLICE DEPARTMENT" and "BRIDGEPORT, CONN." respectively.
Ethan Dubrow, 19 July 2024