Redesigning the New Jersey Flag — Part 2

In a recent post I responded to Brian Donohue’s call for new designs for the New Jersey flag by suggesting it instead of showing the entire achievement of arms on a buff field the flag consist of a banner of the arms, like Maryland’s.

proposed New Jersey flag

In this post I am going to suggest an additional flag design, an ensign, be adopted that can be the basis of flags for state officers and departments.

This proposal is loosely based upon the use by British institutions and territories of flags based upon the red, white and blue ensigns (flags of those colors with the Union Jack in the upper corner or canton, the White Ensign also is quartered by a red cross of St. George), with arms or other symbols added to the fly, said to “deface” (not meant pejoratively) the flag:

For example, the red ensign is the basis of the flag of Bermuda,

while the blue ensign is used by the Northern Lighthouse Board:

ad that practice been followed prior to the American Revolution, the following can be posited as a potential New Jersey colonial flag:

(Note that the Union Jack is the version used before the Union with Ireland in 1801.)

As an aside, here are some flags used by the Continental Army during the Revolution:

Grand Union (or Cambridge) Flag
Betsy Ross Flag

Using the British Red Ensign as a model, here is what an American Red Ensign might look like (based upon the Betsy Ross flag):

American Red Ensign

And here is that flag “defaced” by New Jersey’s arms:

All of the foregoing is by way of setting up the proposal for New Jersey to have its own ensign, which I call the New Jersey Buff Ensign: 

The New Jersey Buff Ensign can then be the basis for several specialty flags, such as for the governor

(The horse’s head is from the crest of New Jersey’s arms and is displayed on the torse (wreath). Please, no comments that the wrong end of the horse is shown.)
(Note that the horse’s head now faces the fly rather than the hoist and the torse has been omitted.)