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Vermont (U.S.)

Last modified: 2009-08-01 by rick wyatt
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[Flag of Vermont] image by Clay Moss, 11 February 2009

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In 1795, two stars were added, representing Kentucky and Vermont, bringing the total number of stars on the U.S. flag to 15. There were thirteen stripes representing the thirteen original colonies.

Legal Description

VERMONT STATUTES ANNOTATED, TITLE 1
01 VSA 491. Coat of arms; crest; motto and badge. The coat of arms, crest, motto and badge of the state shall be and are described as follows:

  1. Coat of arms. -- Green, a landscape occupying half of the shield; on the right and left, in the background, high mountains, blue; the sky, yellow. From near the base and reaching nearly to the top of the shield, arises a pine tree of the natural color and between three erect sheaves, yellow, placed diagonally on the right side and a red cow standing on the left side of the field.
  2. Motto and badge. -- On a scroll beneath the shield, the motto: Vermont; Freedom and Unity. The Vermonter's badge: two pine branches of natural color, crossed between the shield and scroll.
  3. Crest. -- A buck's head, of natural color, placed on a scroll, blue and yellow.
01 VSA 495. State flag. The flag of the state shall be blue with the coat of arms of the state thereon.

Joe McMillan, 21 February 2000

Republic of Vermont

The Republic of New Connecticut was proclaimed on 15 January 1777 and was renamed the Republic of Vermont on 4 June 1777. It lasted until 4 March 1791 when Vermont entered the Union. There are references to flags but no descriptions. The seal embodied in the Constitution of 1777 (the design of which is still in use today) was cut in 1779 by Ira Allen (Ethan's brother I believe) and shows a cow, four wheat sheaves, a fleur-di-lis spearhead, a forest of pine trees and a larger pine tree with 14 branches. Obviously they were interested in being the 14th State even during the period of the republic. It has been suggested by some, without any corroborating evidence, that this seal was the basis for the flag of the republic.
Dave Martucci, 15 November 1996

Historical flags

[1804 Flag of Vermont] by Paige Herring, 29 August 1998
1 May 1804 - 20 October 1837

Vermont entered the union as the fourteenth state in 1791, but did not adopt a flag until 1 May 1804, coinciding with the admission of the seventeenth state. This flag was designed to reflect the appropriate Federal flag change that should have occurred, namely seventeen stars and seventeen stripes. That flag also placed the name of the flag along the upper edge. However, the United States flag remained unchanged with fifteen stars and stripes.
Paige Herring, 29 August 1998

[1837 Flag of Vermont-8 pt] by Paige Herring, 29 August 1998
20 October 1837 - 1 June 1923 (Eight Points)

[1837 Flag of Vermont-5 pt] by Paige Herring, 29 August 1998
20 October 1837 - 1 June 1923 (Five Points)

On 20 October 1837, Vermont changed its flag. The flag was to have the basic layout of the national flag with its thirteen red and white stripes and a blue canton. This flag, produced in at least two variants, had a star in the canton. The star was reproduced with both eight points and five points; however, based upon this writer's research it seems that the eight-pointed star was slightly more common. The coat of arms or seal was placed upon the star. This flag remained the flag of Vermont until 1 June 1923.
Paige Herring, 29 August 1998

I would be very curious as to any Vermont flags that predate 1804. The region of Vermont was disputed between New York and New Hampshire during the colonial period. During the Revolutionary War, I think, the inhabitants of the area began to govern themselves. I believe the famous "Green Mountain Boys" who fought the British during the American Revolution were loyal to this government. Though the other colonies/states, and the U.S. govt. under the Articles of Confederation did not recognize the new entity, Vermont functioned as a de facto independent state for almost a decade, issuing its own stamps, for instance. It's admission to the union as a separate state in 1791 represented the working out of one of the last inter-state disputes east of the Appalachians.
Josh Fruhlinger, 29 August 1998

Josh's information on Vermont's revolutionary history is correct. Vermont could not be admitted as a member State of the U.S. until the other States claiming its territory relinquished their claims and recognized Vermont's independence. Massachusetts did so in 1781 and New Hampshire in 1782. New York held out for some time, but finally relinquished its claim to Vermont in 1790, following which Vermont was admitted as a member of the union as of 4 March 1791.
I have never seen any information regarding a Vermont flag during its period of independence.
Devereaux Cannon, 30 August 1998

Coat of Arms

[Vermont coat of arms] by Joe McMillan

The Vermont coat of arms was officially described by Act No. 11 of 1862 (codified as Title 1, Vermont Statutes Annotated, Sec. 491): "Coat of arms. -- Green, a landscape occupying half of the shield; on the right and left, in the background, high mountains, blue; the sky, yellow. From near the  base and reaching nearly to the top of the shield, arises a pine tree of the natural color and between three erect sheaves, yellow, placed diagonally on the right side and a red cow standing on the left side of the field. Motto and badge. -- On a scroll beneath the shield, the motto: Vermont; Freedom and Unity. The Vermonter's badge: two pine branches of natural color, crossed between the shield and scroll. Crest. -- A buck's head, of natural color, placed on a scroll, blue and yellow."

According to a 1939 study entitled "The Coat of Arms and Great Seal of Vermont," by John P. Clement, this coat of arms first appeared in 1821 as an engraving on state military commissions. The design was based on the graphic elements in the state seal that had been adopted on February 20, 1779, but which is a much more abstract design. The buck's head crest may have been devised by the then-secretary of state, Robert Temple, or the engraver who designed the commission form. The design continued in de facto use as the state coat of arms until the time of the Civil War. This included being shown on state publications and in a carving over the speaker's desk in the state House of Representatives. The crossed pine branches first appeared on the title page of the 1840 edition of the state's Revised Statutes; they are a reference to pine sprigs worn by Vermont troops at the Battle of Plattsburgh in 1814. In 1862, a description of the arms was written by George W. Benedict and enacted by the legislature. Clement reports that an account of the arms soon after their official adoption identifies the mountains as Camel's Hump and Mount Mansfield as seen from a point opposite Burlington, supposed to be the point from which the French explorer Samuel de Champlain first saw the Green Mountains.

While the secretary of state's website acknowledges that "any painting which follows the description faithfully will be a sound representation," and that there are no restrictions on the shape of the shield, the height or shape of the mountains, etc., I have followed as closely as possible the official pattern used for the state flag, with coloring of the mountains, foothills, and forest based on an actual Vermont flag in a set of state flags procured according to US Army specifications (which generally reflect official information from state sources).

Joe McMillan, 23 February 2004

State Military Crest

by Joe McMillan, 21 April 2000

The state military crest, which is the crest used in the coats of arms of units of the National Guard, as granted by the precursor organizations of what is now the Army Institute of Heraldry. The official Institute of Heraldry blazon is "A buck's head erased within a garland of pine branches all proper."
Joe McMillan, 21 April 2000