New Orleans, Louisiana (U.S.)

Last modified: 2009-06-19 by rick wyatt
Keywords: louisiana | new orleans |
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image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 26 March 2008

• Flag Description
• Variant Flag
• New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival

See also:

• Orleans Parish (coextensive with New Orleans)
• Mardi Gras
• Municipal and Parish Flags of Louisiana
• State of Louisiana
• United States of America

The Official Flag of the City of New Orleans was adopted by the Commission Council February 5, 1918 in honor of the City's Bi-Centennial. The white field is the symbol of purity in government; the blue stripe is liberty and the red is fraternity. The white field is five times as wide as the stripes of liberty and fraternity (or Union) because it is the mother of both; the combination of these three fundamental principles of good government constitutes democracy.

The three fleurs-de-lis grouped in triangular form represent the birth of New Orleans under the banner of the three fleurs-de-lis; but these having since been snatched from the blue field of the banner of autocracy, now rest upon the field of purity and equality and symbolize democracy triumphant over autocracy.

The red, white and blue are the colors of the United States but are also the colors of France, and as New Orleans is the daughter of both, they are so grouped as to constitute a new and separate entity, which is now the flag of New Orleans.

(Condensed from "Raising of the Official flag of the City of New Orleans on the City Hall, February 9, 1918")
Source: http://www.new-orleans.la.us/flag.asp.

submitted by: JJ Andersson, 23 April 2002

The red and blue stripes are Old Glory shades (R+ and B+++), and the fleurs de lis are golden yellow. The white stripe is officially prescribed as 5/7ths, although images of actual flags often show it otherwise (anything from about 3/4ters to 2/3rds).
António Martins-Tuválkin, 26 March 2008

Variant Flag

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 26 March 2008

A nice image of the flags of Louisiana and New Orleans is at http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2028907460093378786yfeLlq shows detail differences: Red and blue in this flag are medium, not dark, and the fleurs de lis, unusually shaped, are actually light orange, not really golden yellow. The white stripe is narrower than the official prescribed 5/7ths, about 2/3rds.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 26 March 2008

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival

image located by Bill Garrison, 17 April 2007
Source: Ebay

A yellow flag with a design of four jazz players in black silhouette above the festival name.
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