Coat of arms of Albany, New York
Encyclopedia
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".
fur-trading
post Fort Orange in 1624. Around the fort grew the village of Beverwijck , which was incorporated in 1652. 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
).
When the city was incorporated by provincial governor
Thomas Dongan in 1686 under the Dongan Charter
, it was empowered to have its own seal:
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".
Prior to 1752 (but after 1736), the seal had a beaver at center, with the letters "ALB" above it. This seal was replaced in 1752 with the abbreviation removed and replaced with "Albany" above the beaver and the year below as such:
The seal from 1752 is shown in Figure 2. The beaver honored Albany's past as an important fur trading port. 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." 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.
The current seal was adopted in 1789 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. 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.
argent
and gules
; that is, split horizontally in two with a red lower half and silver upper half. Its lower half contains two golden sheaves of wheat on a red background; this design represents Albany's agricultural past. The upper half, which has a silver background, depicts a beaver gnawing at the stump of a fallen tree. This scene represents Beverwyck's former fur trade, which was vital to the development of Albany. One supporter can be seen on each side of the shield. The man on the left is a European-descended farmer dressed in simple clothes; he is supporting the shield with his left hand. His right hand rests on his hip and a sickle hangs from his waist; this references Albany's former agricultural society. The man on the right is an American Indian dressed in a loin cloth and wearing moccasin
s and a quiver
. He supports the shield with his right hand and holds a bow
over his left shoulder. The two men supporting the shield together represent the cooperation between white immigrants and Indians in the early development of the city, which would not have existed without the Indian fur trade. The men stand on a scroll displaying the motto Assiduity, meaning "the quality of acting with constant and careful attention". The torse
is argent and gules, following the pattern of the shield. The crest
is a sloop
under full sail facing left, "denoting Albany's supremacy at the head of the sloop navigation of the Hudson River". The coat of arms represents the "symbols of industry and its rewards to man and beast on land and sea". At the time of Albany's bicentennial (1886), it was believed that only New York City and Albany possessed arms charged on a shield upheld by supporters.
of orange, white, and blue, and was adopted in 1909 as part of the tricentennial celebration of Henry Hudson
's discovery of the Hudson River
. It was based on the flag of the Dutch East India Company
(EIC), for which Hudson sailed in 1609. Its flag was also a tricolor and included the company's logo where the Albany coat of arms is located today.
Unlike Albany's flag, the EIC's flag was a red, white, and blue tricolor, which is a copy of the flag of the Netherlands
from the EIC's most influential time. The early Dutch flag, introduced in 1572, was an orange, white, and blue tricolor, which represented the coat of arms of the Prince of Orange
, William the Silent
. After 1660, the orange stripe had been replaced by a red one, though no particular reason is cited. 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.
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.
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
representing the city of Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, the capital
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....
of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. 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
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
. The coat of arms is meant to represent the "symbols of industry and its rewards to man and beast on land and sea".
History of the city seal
Albany began as the DutchUnited Netherlands
United Netherlands is an educational student-led organization that focuses on the theory and practice of international relations and diplomacy...
fur-trading
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
post Fort Orange in 1624. Around the fort grew the village of Beverwijck , which was incorporated in 1652. In 1664, the English
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
sacked New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
and Beverwyck was renamed Albany in honor of the Duke of York
Duke of York
The Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch. The title has been created a remarkable eleven times, eight as "Duke of York" and three as the double-barreled "Duke of York and...
and Duke of Albany
Duke of Albany
Duke of Albany is a peerage title that has occasionally been bestowed on the younger sons in the Scottish, and later the British, royal family, particularly in the Houses of Stuart and Hanover....
(later James II of England
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
).
When the city was incorporated by provincial governor
Province of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
Thomas Dongan in 1686 under the Dongan Charter
Dongan Charter
The Dongan Charter is the 1686 document incorporating Albany, New York as a city. Albany's charter was issued by Governor Thomas Dongan of the Province of New York, a few months after Governor Dongan issued a similarly worded, but less detailed charter for the city of New York. The city of Albany...
, it was empowered to have its own seal:
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.
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
Pieter Schuyler
Pieter Schuyler was the first mayor of Albany, New York and the head of the Albany Commissioners for Indian Affairs...
, the document was sealed with red wax, the design on which was an octagon with a monogram
Monogram
A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series of uncombined initials is properly referred to as a...
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".
Prior to 1752 (but after 1736), the seal had a beaver at center, with the letters "ALB" above it. 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.
The seal from 1752 is shown in Figure 2. The beaver honored Albany's past as an important fur trading port. 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." 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.
The current seal was adopted in 1789 and first shows up in 1790, when Simeon De Witt
Simeon De Witt
Simeon De Witt was Geographer and Surveyor General of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and Surveyor General of the State of New York for the fifty years from 1784 until his death.-Life:He was one of fourteen children of physician Dr...
, 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. 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.
Description
The current coat of arms consists of numerous traditional heraldic attributes. The shield is party per fessFess
In heraldry, a fess or fesse is a charge on a coat of arms that takes the form of a band running horizontally across the centre of the shield. Writers disagree in how much of the shield's surface is to be covered by a fess or other ordinary, ranging from one-fifth to one-third...
argent
Argent
In heraldry, argent is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it...
and gules
Gules
In heraldry, gules is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation....
; that is, split horizontally in two with a red lower half and silver upper half. Its lower half contains two golden sheaves of wheat on a red background; this design represents Albany's agricultural past. The upper half, which has a silver background, depicts a beaver gnawing at the stump of a fallen tree. This scene represents Beverwyck's former fur trade, which was vital to the development of Albany. One supporter can be seen on each side of the shield. The man on the left is a European-descended farmer dressed in simple clothes; he is supporting the shield with his left hand. His right hand rests on his hip and a sickle hangs from his waist; this references Albany's former agricultural society. The man on the right is an American Indian dressed in a loin cloth and wearing moccasin
Moccasin
A Moccasin is a form of shoe worn by Native Americans, as well as by hunters, traders, and settlers in the frontier regions of North America.Moccasin may also refer to:* Moccasin , an American Thoroughbred racehorse-Places:...
s and a quiver
Quiver
A quiver is a container for arrows. Quivers have been traditionally made of leather, bark, wood, furs and other natural materials; modern quivers are often made of metal and plastic....
. He supports the shield with his right hand and holds a bow
Bow (weapon)
The bow and arrow is a projectile weapon system that predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.-Description:A bow is a flexible arc that shoots aerodynamic projectiles by means of elastic energy. Essentially, the bow is a form of spring powered by a string or cord...
over his left shoulder. The two men supporting the shield together represent the cooperation between white immigrants and Indians in the early development of the city, which would not have existed without the Indian fur trade. The men stand on a scroll displaying the motto Assiduity, meaning "the quality of acting with constant and careful attention". The torse
Torse
In heraldry, a torse or wreath is a twisted roll of fabric laid about the top of the helm and the base of the crest, from which the mantling hangs....
is argent and gules, following the pattern of the shield. The crest
Crest (heraldry)
A crest is a component of an heraldic display, so called because it stands on top of a helmet, as the crest of a jay stands on the bird's head....
is a sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
under full sail facing left, "denoting Albany's supremacy at the head of the sloop navigation of the Hudson River". The coat of arms represents the "symbols of industry and its rewards to man and beast on land and sea". At the time of Albany's bicentennial (1886), it was believed that only New York City and Albany possessed arms charged on a shield upheld by supporters.
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 tricolorTricolour
A tricolour is a flag or banner more-or-less equally divided into three bands of differing colours...
of orange, white, and blue, and was adopted in 1909 as part of the tricentennial celebration of Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a prospective Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle...
's discovery of the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
. It was based on the flag of the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
(EIC), for which Hudson sailed in 1609. Its flag was also a tricolor and included the company's logo where the Albany coat of arms is located today.
Unlike Albany's flag, the EIC's flag was a red, white, and blue tricolor, which is a copy of the flag of the Netherlands
Flag of the Netherlands
The flag of the Netherlands is a horizontal tricolour of red, white, and blue. Since 1937, the flag has officially been the national flag of the Netherlands and of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.-Description:...
from the EIC's most influential time. The early Dutch flag, introduced in 1572, was an orange, white, and blue tricolor, which represented the coat of arms of the Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange is a title of nobility, originally associated with the Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France. In French it is la Principauté d'Orange....
, William the Silent
William the Silent
William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...
. After 1660, the orange stripe had been replaced by a red one, though no particular reason is cited. 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
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The change was vetoed by Mayor Joseph Stevens.
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
FleetBoston Financial
FleetBoston Financial was a Boston, Massachusetts–based bank created in 1999 by the merger of Fleet Financial Group and BankBoston. In 2004 it merged with Bank of America; all of its banks and branches were given the Bank of America logo.-History:...
President Peter D. Kiernan as part of the park across Broadway from the then-newly renovated Union Station
Union Station (Albany, New York)
Union Station, also known as Albany Union Station, is a building in downtown Albany, New York. Built during 1899–1900, it originally served as the city's railroad station but now houses bank offices...
, which Norstar used as its headquarters until buyer Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
moved its employees out of the building in 2010. The statue still stands in Tricentennial Park
Tricentennial Park (Albany, New York)
Tricentennial Park is an urban park in Albany, New York built to commemorate that city's three hundredth anniversary as an incorporated city and is the site of several statues and monuments. The park encompasses the entire block bounded by Broadway to the east, Columbia Street to the north, James...
on Broadway.