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The state flag shall be of the following colour and design: The body or field shall be blue and shall bear upon its centre in suitable proportion and colours a representation of the state seal. The seal shall be surrounded by a wreath of laurel leaves with nine stars interspersed. When used for military purposes the flag shall conform to the regulations of the United States.
New Hampshire did not officially adopt a state flag until 1909. Prior to that, New Hampshire had numerous regimental flags to represent the state. The flag has only been changed once, in 1931 when the state's seal was modified.
The body of the flag is blue. The centre of the flag has the state's seal with the frigate Raleigh -- all surrounded by laurel leaves and nine stars.
New Hampshire did not officially adopt a state flag until 1909. Prior to that, New Hampshire had numerous regimental flags to represent the state. The flag has only been changed once, in 1931 when the state's seal was modified.
The body of the flag is blue. The centre of the flag has the state's seal with the frigate Raleigh -- all surrounded by laurel leaves and nine stars.
Nickname: The Granite State.
Capital: Concord.
Constitution: The 9th State.
Statehood: June 21st 1788.
Motto: Live Free or Die
History:
Algonquian Indians lived in New Hampshire before Europeans went there. Two Englishmen established the region's first permanent European settlements in the 1620's--David Thomson at Odiorne's Point (now part of Rye), and Edward Hilton at Hilton's Point (now Dover). In 1622, John Mason of Hampshire, England, named a tract of land in the region New Hampshire.
In 1944, representatives from 44 nations held the International Monetary Conference at Bretton Woods. They made plans to restore world trade after World War II (1939-1945).
Bird:
The pert little purple finch toppled the one-time sturdy New Hampshire hen to become the Granite State's official bird, by vote of the 1957 Legislature.
Rep. Robert S. Monahan of Hanover, then Dartmouth College forester, sponsored a purple finch bill, which was filed in the House of Representatives on February 12, Lincoln's birthday anniversary, with impressive backing. He later testified that it bore the support of the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Federation of Garden Clubs, and the State Federation of Women's Clubs.
The purple finch proposal ran into quick opposition. Rep. Doris M. Spollett of Hampstead, veteran legislator and mail carrier and breeder of prize goats, once again sponsored the New Hampshire hen for a state bird. She had lost an initial bid for this special breed of hen, to become the official bird, eight years earlier, while serving in the Senate.
Monahan won speedy approval for the purple finch, as his bill came up for public hearing before the House Committee on Recreation, Resources and Development on March 27, as he urged quick enactment "before some other state beats us to it."
The purple finch readily mustered broad legislative support, because of the respected influence of its sponsoring organizations, and Miss Spollett's hen bill became pigeon-hold. The House Committee on Recreation, Resources and Development held a March 27 public hearing on Monahan's bill, and promptly recommended its passage. The House then passed the purple finch, and the Senate speedily concurred. Governor Lane Dwinell of Lebanon signed the purple finch into law on April 25.
Economy:
Agriculture: Dairy products, nursery stock, cattle, apples, eggs.
Industry: Machinery, electric equipment, rubber and plastic products, tourism.
Flower:
The purple lilac, Syringa vulgaris, is the state flower of New Hampshire. New Hampshire historian Leon Anderson writes in To This Day that the purple lilac was first imported from England and planted at the Portsmouth home of Governor Benning Wentworth in 1750. It was adopted as our state's flower in 1919. That year bills and amendments were introduced promoting the apple blossom, purple aster, wood lily, Mayflower, goldenrod, wild pasture rose, evening primrose and buttercup as the state flower. A long and lively debate followed regarding the relative merits of each flower. The purple lilac was ultimately chosen, according to Anderson in "New Hampshire's Flower -- Tree -- Bird" because it "is symbolic of that hardy character of the men and women of the Granite State."
Motto:
The words "Live Free or Die," written by General John Stark, July 31, 1809, shall be the official motto of the state.
Seal:
The seal of the state shall be 2 inches in diameter, circular, with the following detail and no other:
A field crossed by a straight horizon line of the sea, above the centre of the field; concentric with the field the rising sun, exposed above the horizon about 1/3 of its diameter; the field encompassed with laurel; across the field for the full width within the laurel a broadside view of the frigate Raleigh, on the stocks; the ship's bow dexter and higher than the stern; the 3 lower masts shown in place, together with the fore, main and mizzen tops, shrouds and mainstays; an ensign staff at the stern flies the United States flag authorized by act of Congress June 14, 1777; a jury staff on the mainmast and another on the foremast each flies a penant; flags and pennants are streaming to the dexter side; the hull is shown without a rudder; below the ship the field is divided into land and water by a double diagonal line whose highest point is sinister; no detail is shown anywhere on the water, nor any on the land between the water and the stocks except a granite boulder on the dexter side; encircling the field is the inscription, SEAL OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, the words separated by round periods, except between the parts of New Hampshire; at the lowest point of the inscription is the date 1776, flanked on either side by a 5-pointed star, which group separates the beginning and end of the inscription; the whole form and design to be as follows:
New Hampshire has had a state seal for more than 200 years, but its present form is only 50 years old.
The seal was first created in 1775 by the First Provincial Congress. It comprised a pine tree and an upright fish, on each side of a bundle of five arrows. The design reflected the state's then two major economic resources, and the arrows symbolized the strength of unity among the then five counties.
When the present state constitution became effective in 1784, the new Legislature revised the seal, to depict a ship on stocks, with a rising sun in the background, to reflect Portsmouth having become a major shipbuilding center during the war years. Various items for shipment were also shown on a frontal dock.
Details of this 1784 seal became so distorted in the ensuing century and a half that the 1931 Legislature voted major improvements, and, or the first time, spelled out its makeup. Director Otis G. Hammond of the New Hampshire Historical Society sparked this adjustment, by reporting that artists and sketchers had injected surprising details into the seal, as they produced new dies every few years for official state use. They produced rum barrels on the dock, and, on occasion, even human beings beside them.
When Governor John G. Winant of Concord launched a second term in 1931, he named a committee to serve with Hammond, to produce a less objectionable seal. The 1931 Legislature readily approved its recommendations.
Historic Warship Honoured. The frigate Raleigh, built at Portsmouth in 1776, as one of the first 13 warships sponsored by the Continental Congress for a new American navy, became the centrepiece of the 1931 seal. The figure 1784 on the old seal was changed to 1776. The old Latin phrase "Neo Hantoniensis 1784 Sigillum Republica" around the circular seal was replaced with "Seal of the state of New Hampshire 1776." The 1931 seal law spelled out that only a granite boulder could be shown in the foreground, as symbolic of the Granite State's rugged terrain and the character of its citizenry.
The Raleigh has a checkered career of adversities, while becoming the first to carry the American flag into sea battle. She was unable to go to sea for 15 months for lack of armament, and after her first voyage to France for munitions, her captain was dismissed for incompetency. Soon thereafter she was beached off Maine, captured by British warships, and used for the remainder of the Revolutionary War against her own country. Captain John F. Rowe (USN retired) of Newington resurrected the life and lore of the Raleigh in recent years. The British liked the sturdiness of the frigate so much that they sketched its construction details, to build others like it, and Captain Rowe obtained the drawings from London, to enable him to paint the Raleigh in all its pristine glory. And when Governor Hugh J. Gallen and his Executive Council celebrated the 300th anniversary of New Hampshire's state government, Publisher William Loeb of the Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News purchased an enlarged portrait of the Raleigh, by Captain Rowe, and presented it to the state for permanent display in the State House.
Tree:
The white birch tree, Betula papyrifera, is the state tree of New Hampshire. The White birch became the Granite State's official tree in the 1947 Legislature without argument or opposition.
Algonquian Indians lived in New Hampshire before Europeans went there. Two Englishmen established the region's first permanent European settlements in the 1620's--David Thomson at Odiorne's Point (now part of Rye), and Edward Hilton at Hilton's Point (now Dover). In 1622, John Mason of Hampshire, England, named a tract of land in the region New Hampshire.
In 1944, representatives from 44 nations held the International Monetary Conference at Bretton Woods. They made plans to restore world trade after World War II (1939-1945).
Bird:
The pert little purple finch toppled the one-time sturdy New Hampshire hen to become the Granite State's official bird, by vote of the 1957 Legislature.
Rep. Robert S. Monahan of Hanover, then Dartmouth College forester, sponsored a purple finch bill, which was filed in the House of Representatives on February 12, Lincoln's birthday anniversary, with impressive backing. He later testified that it bore the support of the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Federation of Garden Clubs, and the State Federation of Women's Clubs.
The purple finch proposal ran into quick opposition. Rep. Doris M. Spollett of Hampstead, veteran legislator and mail carrier and breeder of prize goats, once again sponsored the New Hampshire hen for a state bird. She had lost an initial bid for this special breed of hen, to become the official bird, eight years earlier, while serving in the Senate.
Monahan won speedy approval for the purple finch, as his bill came up for public hearing before the House Committee on Recreation, Resources and Development on March 27, as he urged quick enactment "before some other state beats us to it."
The purple finch readily mustered broad legislative support, because of the respected influence of its sponsoring organizations, and Miss Spollett's hen bill became pigeon-hold. The House Committee on Recreation, Resources and Development held a March 27 public hearing on Monahan's bill, and promptly recommended its passage. The House then passed the purple finch, and the Senate speedily concurred. Governor Lane Dwinell of Lebanon signed the purple finch into law on April 25.
Economy:
Agriculture: Dairy products, nursery stock, cattle, apples, eggs.
Industry: Machinery, electric equipment, rubber and plastic products, tourism.
Flower:
The purple lilac, Syringa vulgaris, is the state flower of New Hampshire. New Hampshire historian Leon Anderson writes in To This Day that the purple lilac was first imported from England and planted at the Portsmouth home of Governor Benning Wentworth in 1750. It was adopted as our state's flower in 1919. That year bills and amendments were introduced promoting the apple blossom, purple aster, wood lily, Mayflower, goldenrod, wild pasture rose, evening primrose and buttercup as the state flower. A long and lively debate followed regarding the relative merits of each flower. The purple lilac was ultimately chosen, according to Anderson in "New Hampshire's Flower -- Tree -- Bird" because it "is symbolic of that hardy character of the men and women of the Granite State."
Motto:
The words "Live Free or Die," written by General John Stark, July 31, 1809, shall be the official motto of the state.
Seal:
The seal of the state shall be 2 inches in diameter, circular, with the following detail and no other:
A field crossed by a straight horizon line of the sea, above the centre of the field; concentric with the field the rising sun, exposed above the horizon about 1/3 of its diameter; the field encompassed with laurel; across the field for the full width within the laurel a broadside view of the frigate Raleigh, on the stocks; the ship's bow dexter and higher than the stern; the 3 lower masts shown in place, together with the fore, main and mizzen tops, shrouds and mainstays; an ensign staff at the stern flies the United States flag authorized by act of Congress June 14, 1777; a jury staff on the mainmast and another on the foremast each flies a penant; flags and pennants are streaming to the dexter side; the hull is shown without a rudder; below the ship the field is divided into land and water by a double diagonal line whose highest point is sinister; no detail is shown anywhere on the water, nor any on the land between the water and the stocks except a granite boulder on the dexter side; encircling the field is the inscription, SEAL OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, the words separated by round periods, except between the parts of New Hampshire; at the lowest point of the inscription is the date 1776, flanked on either side by a 5-pointed star, which group separates the beginning and end of the inscription; the whole form and design to be as follows:
New Hampshire has had a state seal for more than 200 years, but its present form is only 50 years old.
The seal was first created in 1775 by the First Provincial Congress. It comprised a pine tree and an upright fish, on each side of a bundle of five arrows. The design reflected the state's then two major economic resources, and the arrows symbolized the strength of unity among the then five counties.
When the present state constitution became effective in 1784, the new Legislature revised the seal, to depict a ship on stocks, with a rising sun in the background, to reflect Portsmouth having become a major shipbuilding center during the war years. Various items for shipment were also shown on a frontal dock.
Details of this 1784 seal became so distorted in the ensuing century and a half that the 1931 Legislature voted major improvements, and, or the first time, spelled out its makeup. Director Otis G. Hammond of the New Hampshire Historical Society sparked this adjustment, by reporting that artists and sketchers had injected surprising details into the seal, as they produced new dies every few years for official state use. They produced rum barrels on the dock, and, on occasion, even human beings beside them.
When Governor John G. Winant of Concord launched a second term in 1931, he named a committee to serve with Hammond, to produce a less objectionable seal. The 1931 Legislature readily approved its recommendations.
Historic Warship Honoured. The frigate Raleigh, built at Portsmouth in 1776, as one of the first 13 warships sponsored by the Continental Congress for a new American navy, became the centrepiece of the 1931 seal. The figure 1784 on the old seal was changed to 1776. The old Latin phrase "Neo Hantoniensis 1784 Sigillum Republica" around the circular seal was replaced with "Seal of the state of New Hampshire 1776." The 1931 seal law spelled out that only a granite boulder could be shown in the foreground, as symbolic of the Granite State's rugged terrain and the character of its citizenry.
The Raleigh has a checkered career of adversities, while becoming the first to carry the American flag into sea battle. She was unable to go to sea for 15 months for lack of armament, and after her first voyage to France for munitions, her captain was dismissed for incompetency. Soon thereafter she was beached off Maine, captured by British warships, and used for the remainder of the Revolutionary War against her own country. Captain John F. Rowe (USN retired) of Newington resurrected the life and lore of the Raleigh in recent years. The British liked the sturdiness of the frigate so much that they sketched its construction details, to build others like it, and Captain Rowe obtained the drawings from London, to enable him to paint the Raleigh in all its pristine glory. And when Governor Hugh J. Gallen and his Executive Council celebrated the 300th anniversary of New Hampshire's state government, Publisher William Loeb of the Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News purchased an enlarged portrait of the Raleigh, by Captain Rowe, and presented it to the state for permanent display in the State House.
Tree:
The white birch tree, Betula papyrifera, is the state tree of New Hampshire. The White birch became the Granite State's official tree in the 1947 Legislature without argument or opposition.