The City of Springfield, Massachusetts has two official symbols, and is also often represented by depictions of the Municipal Group as a de facto emblem of its government.
![]() | |
Use | Civil flag |
---|---|
Adopted | 1923 [1] |
Designed by | Charles H. Restall; [2] original statue by Augustus Saint Gaudens |
Adopted in 1923, the municipal flag of Springfield is described by the city's code in such terms [2]
The City adopts by this section a City flag in details as follows:
- A. Such flag shall have an inner blue field bordered with gold and set in an outer white field.
- B. In the center of the blue field, on both the front and reverse thereof, shall be a white shield bordered with gold.
- C. Arched above the shield and set in the blue field shall be a scroll in gold bearing the inscription "Springfield."
- D. Upon the seal shall be a likeness in gold of the St. Gaudens statue of Deacon Samuel Chapin.
- E. Within the shield and below on both sides flanking said likeness shall be a scroll in gold bearing the inscription "A Town May 14, 1636 O.S. Organized A City May 25, 1852," all in substantial conformity with the design executed by Charles H. Restall and filed in the office of the City Clerk.
The Puritan statue in itself could be considered a symbol of Springfield; the flag appears in the former aldermanic chambers to the right of a portrait of the same. The flag is also in the current Council chambers, which once housed the Common Council. [3] Because the city code neglects to mention specific standards for the flag's measurements, several variations of both the statue's rendering, as well as differing proportions for the flag have appeared since its adoption, including a gold border outer border not described in the code which can be seen in the examples below.
Seal of the City of Springfield, Massachusetts | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Versions | |
![]() The Coat of Arms, as it appears on the campanile of the Springfield Municipal Group, as well as cap badges of the Springfield Police Department | |
Armiger | City of Springfield |
Adopted | c. 1871 |
Crest | Arsenal building of the Springfield Armory, facing from the opposite side of the tower |
Shield | Clockwise from top: The first Springfield Union Station with a train crossing the first North End Bridge; John Pynchon's estate, the "Old Fort"; a riverside scene of the city on the Connecticut River; a double-ended arrow runs across the center of the shield pointing east and west |
Use | Officiating municipal government documents and signage |
The Seal of the City of Springfield was adopted around 1871, under the following ordinance
No. 29. An Ordinance to Establish a City Seal.
1. Description of the seal.
- Section 1. The design hereto annexed, as executed by Richard Paine, giving a view of the city, shall be the device of the city seal, the inscription being as follows, to wit : 'Springfield, organized a town May 14, 1636, O. S., a city, May 26, 1852.
Whereas the city ordinance describes a seal produced by engraver Richard Paine, the rendition from which the modern depiction is derived from was carved by engraver Thomas Chubbuck. The seal contains a number of scenes of Springfield's historic buildings. In its crest is a picture of the Springfield Armory's arsenal building with the American flag, the only recognizable landmark of the seal extant today. Below this crest sits a shield with an embellished trim and an arrow running through it from east to west. From the top, clockwise, the first scene shows a train leaving the city's first Union Station, crossing the former North End Bridge over the Connecticut River; the house on the lower right is the "Old Fort", the residence of John Pychon, built on the homestead of his father William Pynchon. Erected in 1660, it was the first brick building in the settlement, and served as a safehouse during the siege on Springfield during King Philip's War, and remained on the corner of what is now Fort Street, presently the Student Prince/Fort Restaurant, until 1831 when it was razed for new construction. [4] [5] The scene on the lower left shows three smaller buildings and two steamboats on river; prior to the construction of Interstate 91, the Connecticut River played a more significant role in the livelihood of the city. [6]
Often used in the city's press releases, civil patches, and official letterhead, is the Springfield Municipal Group— the group of Neoclassical buildings comprising, from left to right, Symphony Hall, the campanile, and City Hall. In addition to its clerical use the symbol is also used by the mayor, who can often be seen wearing a Municipal Group lapel pin in tandem with one of the American flag. [7]
William Pynchon was an English colonist and fur trader in North America best known as the founder of Springfield, Massachusetts. He was also a colonial treasurer, original patentee of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the iconoclastic author of the New World's first banned book.
The great seal of the state of Delaware was first adopted on January 17, 1777, with the current version being adopted April 29, 2004. It contains the state coat of arms surrounded by an inscription.
The flag of Indianapolis has a dark blue field with a white five-pointed star pointing upwards in the center. Around the star is a circular field in red. Surrounding the red field is a white ring, from which extend four white stripes from top to bottom and from hoist to fly, thus creating four equal quadrants in the field. The stripes are about one-seventh the width of the flag, with the white ring the same width as the stripes. The diameter of the red circle is about two-ninths the width of the flag.
John Mason was an English-born settler, soldier, commander and Deputy Governor of the Connecticut Colony. Mason was best known for leading a group of Puritan settlers and Indian allies on a combined attack on a Pequot Fort in an event known as the Mystic Massacre. The destruction and loss of life he oversaw effectively ended the hegemony of the Pequot tribe in southeast Connecticut.
The flags of New York City include the flag of New York City, the respective flags of the boroughs of The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island, and flags of certain city departments. The city flag is a vertical tricolor in blue, white, and orange and charged in the center bar with the seal of New York City in blue. The tricolor design is derived from the flag of the Dutch Monarchy—the Prince's Flag—as used in New Amsterdam in 1625, when that city became the capital of New Netherland.
The municipal flag of Cleveland serves as the representative banner of the city of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The flag was designed by local art school graduate Susan Hepburn, and was officially adopted as the municipal banner by Cleveland City Council on October 21, 1895, with the ordinance on the flag adopted on February 24, 1896.
The city flag of Philadelphia is a blue and yellow triband, featuring the Seal of Philadelphia.
Samuel Chapin was a prominent early settler of Springfield, Massachusetts. He served the town as selectman, magistrate and deacon. Chapin is best known today as the subject of the Augustus Saint-Gaudens sculpture entitled Deacon Samuel Chapin.
The Municipal Group of Springfield, Massachusetts, United States is a collection of three prominent municipal buildings in the city's Metro Center district. Consisting of a concert hall, City Hall, and a 300-foot-tall (91 m) clocktower, the Group is a center of government and culture in the city.
The flag of Pittsburgh is a triband flag featuring vertical bands of black and gold and Pittsburgh's coat of arms in the center.
The municipal flag of Springfield, Illinois, is the lawful flag of the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois, Springfield. Its background is "Old Glory blue". The flag is emblazoned with a circle of 20 small, white stars, all pointed upward; the circle is offset, slightly, to the left of the flag. Those stars encircle a large, white-bordered "Old Glory red" star, also pointed upward. The center star is described as two stars, one atop the other, in the Springfield, Illinois Code of Ordinances. In the past, the flag has the words "Springfield Illinois," across its bottom; now photographs show no lettering on the flag, and governmental buildings have been seen sporting a version absent text.
The municipal flag of New Orleans is the representative banner of the U.S. city of New Orleans, Louisiana. The flag has a large white field that contains three gold fleurs-de-lis and is bordered on the top by a red stripe and from below by a blue stripe. The presence of the fleur-de-lis, a stylized depiction of a flower and a traditional French symbol demonstrates the city's French heritage and strong ties to France, while the presence of the design being a Spanish fess demonstrates the city's Spanish heritage and strong ties to Spain.
The coat of arms of Albany, New York, is the heraldic symbol representing the city of Albany, the capital of the U.S. state of New York. The coat of arms is rarely seen by itself; it is almost always used in the city seal or on the city flag. The current coat of arms was adopted in 1789, although prior to that it was significantly simpler, ranging from stylized lettering to a caricature of a beaver. Included in the coat of arms are references to Albany's agricultural and fur-trading past. It is supported by a white man and an American Indian and is crested by a sloop. The coat of arms is meant to represent the "symbols of industry and its rewards to man and beast on land and sea".
The Puritan is a bronze statue by sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens in Springfield, Massachusetts, which became so popular it was reproduced for over 20 other cities, museums, universities, and private collectors around the world, and later became an official symbol of the city, emblazoned on its municipal flag. Originally designed to be part of Stearns Square, since 1899 the statue has stood at the corner of Chestnut and State Street next to The Quadrangle.
The flag of Cincinnati is the municipal banner of the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, in the United States. The design was selected in an 1896 contest. It was formally adopted on June 15, 1940.
John Avery Denison was an American politician and judge. He was Mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts, and a judicial appointee of Calvin Coolidge.
The flag of Knoxville, Tennessee, was officially adopted by municipal ordinance on October 16, 1896. It is the third oldest official city flag in the United States and the oldest flag of any state or city governmental entity in Tennessee.
The seal of Cincinnati is the official insignia of the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, in the United States. Adopted in 1819, the seal incorporates scales, a sword, and a caduceus. The seal is featured prominently in the flag of Cincinnati and the insignia of city agencies and institutions.
The flag of Columbus is the official municipal flag of Columbus, Ohio. Its current design is a yellow, white, red vertical triband with the city seal on a blue field. Officially, the flag was adopted in 1929, although it is unknown if the flag was ever flown when it was first adopted.
The flag of Memphis, Tennessee, was designed by Albert Mallory III, then a student at the Memphis Academy of Arts, and was formally adopted by the city commission in July 1963. The flag was updated in 1967 to its current form, when a new city seal design by Alfred Lewis Aydelott was adopted by the city government, as it transitioned to a mayor-council form of government.