Coat of arms of Albany, New York
Coat of arms of Albany, New York | |
---|---|
Supporters | A European farmer on the left and an American Indian on the right |
Motto | Assiduity |
Use | Seal of Albany, Flag of Albany |
The coat of arms of Albany, New York, is the
History
Albany began as the Dutch fur-trading post Fort Orange in 1624. Around the fort grew the village of Beverwijck (English: Beaver District),[2][Note 1] which was incorporated in 1652.[3] In 1664, the English sacked New Netherland and Beverwyck was renamed Albany in honor of the Duke of York and Duke of Albany (later James II of England).[Note 2]
When the city was incorporated by
The said Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of Albany, and their successor shall and may forever hereafter, have one common seal to serve for the sealing of all and singular their affairs and business touching or concerning the said corporation. And it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the said city of Albany, and their successors, as they shall see cause, to break, change, alter and new make their said common seal, and as often as to them shall seem convenient.[7]
The first known use of the seal was on a deed from the city of Albany sold at auction. Signed by Albany's first mayor, Pieter Schuyler, the document was sealed with red wax, the design on which was an octagon with a monogram of the letters ALB in the center topped with a crown (see Figure 1). This document was found in 1886. This seal was again seen on a document from 1736, though that too was not found until 1886. The letters are presumed to be an abbreviation of the name of the city. However the meaning of the crown is unknown; it was noted for being "hardly a kingly crown, nor in shape like a coronet, the head attire of nobility".[8]
Prior to 1752 (but after 1736), the seal had a beaver at center, with the letters "ALB" above it.[9] This seal was replaced in 1752 with the abbreviation removed and replaced with "Albany" above the beaver and the year below as such:
Resolved and ordered by this Board—That the old seal of this corporation, now in the hands of the Mayor, be changed and altered, and that there be a new seal in its place, which new seal, being now produced to this board and approved of by them, the same is ordered to be lodged in the hands of our present clerk in his office for the use and behoof of this corporation, and that the present now new seal be henceforth our seal and called, deemed and esteemed the common seal of this corporation until it be altered and changed and the aforesaid former seal be null and void and dead in law to all intents and purposes whatsoever.[10]
The seal from 1752 is shown in Figure 2. The beaver honored Albany's past as an important fur trading port.[11] Adding to the history of this seal, one historian states, "[The seal] displays the beaver, but looking in the original, more like a drowned cat than the fat and sleek animal, it was intended to represent. Neither the resolution nor the records state why the change was made."[12] In 1755 the original seal (Figure 1) was reinstated for use by the mayor in licensing businesses. So at this point the city had two seals, one corporate and one public. The earlier seal, however, was last seen in 1761 and the beaver continued as the sole city seal from then on.[13]
The current seal was adopted in 1789[14] and first shows up in 1790, when Simeon De Witt, Albany's city surveyor, included the arms on his map of the city. An updated map from 1794 also includes the arms. Both versions include a full landscape in the upper portion of the shield including multiple beavers and trees, as opposed to just one beaver and tree in the current version.[1] There is no documented reasoning for changing the seal from the beaver to the coat of arms, and the coat of arms itself "seems to [have] no record authority" making it in any way official.[13]
Description
The current coat of arms consists of numerous traditional
Uses
Albany's coat of arms is best known for its use on the city seal and flag. The seal incorporates the coat of arms in an outlined, white circle, with the letters, "The Seal of the City of Albany" above it. The flag is a horizontal
Like Albany's flag, the Prince's Flag was an orange, white, and blue tricolor. The orange was derived from the coat of arms of the Prince of Orange, William the Silent.[18] After 1660, the orange stripe had been replaced by a red one, as the Dutch flag still remains, though no particular reason is cited.[19] Albany chose to use the historic flag as its base. The flag was surrounded by controversy in 1916, when Albany's Common Council voted to change the colors to red, white, and blue as a show of patriotism during World War I. The change was vetoed by Mayor Joseph Stevens.[14]
A life-size sculpture of the coat of arms was created by artist and former Times Union political cartoonist Hy Rosen in 1986. Rosen took some liberty with the design, such as adding farm tools to emphasize the city's agricultural and trading history, as well as adding previously undocumented detail; the left supporter also takes on more of the look of an explorer (e.g., Henry Hudson) than a farmer. The statue was commissioned by Norstar Bank President Peter D. Kiernan as part of the park across Broadway from the then-newly renovated Union Station, which Norstar used as its headquarters until buyer Bank of America moved its employees out of the building in 2010. The statue still stands in Tricentennial Park on Broadway.[15][20]
Notes
- ^ Beverwijck has since been Anglicized to Beverwyck, not to be confused with the neighborhood in Albany.
- ^ James Stuart (1633–1701), brother and successor of Charles II, was both the Duke of York and Duke of Albany before being crowned James II of England and James VII of Scotland in 1685. His title of Duke of York is the source of the name of the province of New York.[4] Duke of Albany was a Scottish title given since 1398, generally to a younger son of the King of Scots.[5] The name is ultimately derived from Alba, the Gaelic name for Scotland.[6]
References
- ^ OCLC 4911702.
- ISBN 0-7914-6079-7.
- ISBN 0-7385-1142-0.
- OCLC 458890237.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 487–489, see page 487, para one, lines 8 and 9.
....it was again bestowed, in 1660, on James, duke of York, afterwards King James II
- OCLC 3217086.
- OCLC 3416646.
- ^ Banks, Danaher, and Hamilton (1888), p. 416
- ^ Reynolds, Cuyler (1906). Albany Chronicles: A History of the City Arranged Chronologically, From the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. Albany: J. B. Lyon Company. p. 246.
- ^ Banks, Danaher, and Hamilton (1888), p. 418
- OCLC 2750413.
- ^ Banks, Danaher, and Hamilton (1888), p. 419
- ^ a b Banks, Danaher, and Hamilton (1888), p. 420
- ^ a b c d e Nearing, Brian (2004-11-30). "Three Cheers for the Orange, White, and Blue". Times Union (Albany). Hearst Newspapers. p. B1. Archived from the original on 2011-04-30. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
- ^ ISBN 1-892724-53-7.
- ^ Banks, Danaher, and Hamilton (1888), p. 421
- ^ Banks, Danahar, and Hamilton (1888), p. 422
- OCLC 2826771.
- OCLC 483945318.
flag of netherlands orange red.
- ISBN 0-9625368-1-4.