Connecticut State Flag

Connecticut had no official state flag until 1897. Military flags used during the Civil War showed Connecticut regimental colors on blue fields, and citizens came to associate that blue with the state — but no law defined a state flag. In 1895, the Anna Warner Bailey Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Groton pushed for an official design. They wanted a flag to display in their new meeting room.

Governor O. Vincent Coffin introduced a bill on May 29, 1895. The legislature formed a committee. The DAR submitted designs. The Merriam Post of the Grand Army of the Republic argued for keeping the blue background established by Civil War military tradition. James J. Goodwin of the Connecticut Society of Colonial Wars submitted a competing design. The legislature compromised: azure blue field, the DAR's rococo-style shield.

The General Assembly adopted the flag in 1897, specifying dimensions of five feet six inches by four feet four inches and granting the Anna Warner Bailey Chapter the right to present the first official flag. The coat of arms on the flag was not formally standardized until March 24, 1931 — 34 years after the flag's adoption. Color standards followed in 1956, when the Secretary of State's office developed uniform specifications.

The three grapevines have two competing interpretations, and Connecticut law has never chosen between them. One reading says they represent the three oldest European settlements in Connecticut: Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor — all founded in the 1630s. The other says they represent the three colonies that merged to form Connecticut: Connecticut Colony, Saybrook Colony, and New Haven Colony. Both readings are documented in historical sources. Neither is officially authoritative.

The connection between the vines and the motto is theological. The motto — Qui Transtulit Sustinet, Latin for He Who Transplanted Still Sustains — draws from Psalm 80: 'Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt.' The vine imagery on the shield and the transplantation language in the motto reinforce each other directly. The phrase honored the colonists who uprooted themselves from England and, in the Puritan framing, were sustained by divine providence. The original Saybrook Colony seal from 1639 showed 15 vines. The colony reduced the number to three in 1711, 86 years before Connecticut used the design on a state flag.

The azure blue field is not colonial in origin. It came from the Civil War. Connecticut military regiments carried regimental colors on blue fields, and those flags became what residents associated with the state. When the legislature chose a background color in 1897, they ratified what military tradition had already established.

Connecticut's flag uses seven colors: azure blue, white, gold, silver, brown, green, and purple. This is among the highest color counts of any U.S. state flag — a direct consequence of rendering a detailed heraldic coat of arms in full color. The complexity is part of why design critics consistently place the flag at or near the bottom of design rankings.

The 1897 law did not specify exact color values. Standards were developed by the Secretary of State's office and the State Purchasing Division in 1956 — 59 years after adoption. All seven colors are defined by Cable numbers. No Pantone values appear in Connecticut statute.