New Jersey’s flag features “buff” and “Jersey blue” colors chosen by George Washington for the state’s Revolutionary War troops. The state seal on the flag includes symbols representing its history, including a horse, the official state animal. Other state symbols include the blueberry, violet, goldfinch, brook trout, and conch.
New Jersey takes pride in its many Revolutionary War ties, and the state displays that pride on its official flag through its chosen colors and symbols more than 100 years after it became a state in 1776. The colors are a tan, officially called “buff” and a deep blue, known as “Jersey blue”. New Jersey chose these two colors because the first president of the United States, George Washington, had selected them for the flag representing New Jersey’s Revolutionary War troops.
The New Jersey state flag also displays the official state seal, which is a combination of five symbols that represent more of the Garden State’s history. Pierre Eugene du Simitiere, a Philadelphia-based artist, designed the seal. He also helped design the seal of the United States. One of the symbols on the New Jersey state flag is a scroll with the year New Jersey became a state, 1776, and its motto “Liberty and Prosperity.” As one of the original 13 colonies, New Jersey was among the first states to sign the Constitution.
The horse is another prominent symbol contained in the seal displayed on the New Jersey state flag. It is the official state animal, designated as such in 1977, 200 years after its inclusion on the state seal in 1777. The horse is a strong symbol of New Jersey because it represents both agriculture and the horse breeding industry .
The state has other symbols that indicate its agricultural heritage, history and natural beauty, but they are not included in the New Jersey state flag. Blueberry, for example, is the official fruit. The violet is a very common flower in New Jersey and has been adopted as the official flower. The official bird is the goldfinch.
A state bordering the Atlantic Ocean, New Jersey also has many lakes and rivers, including the Delaware River. As a symbol of the health of waterways, the state has adopted the state’s native brook trout as its official fish. The official shell is the conch, also sometimes called knobby whelk.
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