New Hampshire

flag of New Hampshire
The Granite State
Admitted June 21, 1788

The flag of New Hampshire follows a common pattern for U.S. state flags, featuring the state seal on a field of blue. It is the only flag, though, to feature a warship.

It was originally adopted February 24, 1909 and has changed just once to accommodate changes to the state seal.

The current version was officially adopted in 1931.

Composition

The New Hampshire flag features a field of blue charged with the state seal, centered.

flag of New Hampshire

Iconography

  • a ring of nine stars

    9 stars

    New Hampshire, the ninth state

  • a ring of laurel wreath

    laurel wreath

    victory

  • a frigate on stocks

    USS Raleigh

    Portsmouth, shipbuilding industry

  • a jut of land extending into the sea

    granite

    Portsmouth, natural resources, landscape

Colors

The prominent colors are blue and gold, with supporting colors within the seal.


New Hampshire statute does not provide Cable or Pantone values for the colors of the flag.The hex values here are approximations.
blue
#002a86
Gold
#efae0e
Brown
#9e4d3c
Green
#3f863f
Red
#de1c2c
White
#ffffff

Construction

New Hampshire law doesn’t specify dimensions, but the flag is usually produced with a proportion of 2:3.

It does call for the coat of arms to be produced with “suitable proportion.”

construction sheet for the flag of New Hampshire

Previous iteration

The original New Hampshire flag still featured the state seal at its center. The ship was depicted further in the background, with ship builders working in the foreground. The law was not specific, so varying versions of the ship became common until 1931 when it was standardized.

The original seal featured the Latin words (later translated to English) “Sigillum Reipublicae Neo Hantoniensis” and the date 1784, when New Hampshire’s state constitution took effect.

The state coat of arms (pictured) shows a similar compositon to the original seal.

a photo of the original New Hampshire flag
Image courtesy of Miltonborough Historical Society
the New Hampshire coat of arms

Sources