The state flag of New Jersey was probably first hoisted on 11th of May in 1896. However, the following dates can still be found in various sources: 15th of January in 1896 and 26th of March in 1896, which could be the days on which the constitutional bodies passed a legal resolution. The flag is a leather-coloured bunting with the coat of arms of the state in the centre. The colour of the flag is intended to recall the colour of the uniforms of the Continental Army in the War of Independence, as the colours yellow-brown and blue were assigned by George Washington for the patches on the uniforms of the troops from New York and New Jersey. The unusual colour of the flag is called "buff" in English. This means "yellow-brown" or "leather-coloured". The coat of arms was created in 1777 by Pierre Eugene du Simitiere. It shows a blue shield with three ploughs on it, reminiscent of the importance of agriculture, and above it is a golden helmet with blue and silver mantling and a horse's head as crest. The supporters (shield holders) are the goddesses of freedom and agriculture, Libertas and Ceres – Ceres holds a cornucopia in her hand – thus both representing the state motto "Liberty and Prosperity". This motto can be found in a blue banner below the shield, next to the year 1776, the year in which the state of New Jersey was founded. The many references to agriculture reflect the country's agrarian tradition, which gave the state its nickname "Garden State". The colours of the flag vary greatly in practice. This is presumably due to the fact that the colours were defined in a 1965 by a law, using the colour palette of the Color Association of the United States to define the colours of cables, namely blue as cable no. 70087 and buff as cable no. 65015 – shades that are hardly used in the various printing processes and can hardly be displayed. Nowadays, the Pantone colour space is used for this purpose.
In the state flags of Delaware and New Jersey as well as in the former state flags of New York (1896–1901) and Maine (1901–1909), the colour is described as "leather-coloured" or "buff". This colour is now standardised in United Kingdom and in the USA as "Pantone 465". Nevertheless, the colour tone varies greatly in practice because the colour tone of the leather is determined by the species, breed, sex, age and health of the animal. The Anglo-American buff colour is based on the colour of the doublet worn by the light cavalry – the arquebusiers of the Parliamentary side in the English Civil War – Oliver Cromwell's "The Ironsides". This is recorded in reports as a "yellowish mustard colour". The light militia cavalry of Massachusetts (Massachusetts Militia Light Horse) brought exactly this "buff" with them to the New World. In England and then United Kingdom, the 3rd Regiment of Line Infantry wore leather clothing and cartridge pouches made of untreated coloured leather with their red uniform coat, rather than the usual white. It also wore "buff" as its insignia colour. The nickname and then official nickname of the regiment was "The Buffs". As commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, George Washington wore the uniform he had previously worn, that of an officer of the independent militia company of Fairfax County/Virginia: dark blue coat, badge, waistcoat and trousers in "buff". This became – at least in theory – the prescribed dress colour for American generals during the War of Independence. The Continental infantry regiments of the New York and New Jersey line wore "buff" as the insignia colour on the blue uniform coat for at least two years – an ideal that only applied to a minority. At least half of the Continental Army wore the hunting shirt or civilian hunting textile skirts, at least temporarily. The Maine and Delaware militia preferred to wear buff-coloured waistcoats and trousers. The 14th Continental Infantry Regiment (Massachusetts line) wore buff-coloured uniform skirts. It consisted mainly of bargemen, fishermen and sailors. It enabled the Continental Army to cross the Delaware, which was followed by the Battle of Trenton. The well-known painting "Washington Crosses the Delaware" shows a false US flag, namely the "Betsy Ross" flag. The correct flag would have been the "Grand Union" flag with the small "Union Jack" in the upper corner. Contemporary colour illustrations, paintings and descriptions show a number of buff variations: beige / mustard / yellowish / light, medium and dark beige / light, medium and dark brown, through to dull white. In addition to the leather colour "buff", there is also the textile colour "buff" made from plant dyes, combined with the same variety of colours. In the US Civil War it was called "butternut". The badge colour and the colour of the sashes for Confederate generals was "buff" (as the colour of George Washington, so to speak), but the majority of them preferred a dull white. This "grey-white" of the Confederate army is still referred to today not simply as "grey", but as "gray", and it includes shades from almost white to black-grey.
Inhabitants: 9.288.994 (2020), thereof 70 % Whites (therof 22 % with German roots and 25 % with Italian roots), 14 % Blacks (Afro-Americans), 8 % Hispanics and Latinos, 8 % Asian
The name "New Jersey" (actually Nova Caesaria) was probably given to the country in 1664 by the Duke of York in memory of one of the Channel Islands. Lord Berkeley and George Carteret were born on Jersey. Before that, New Jersey was part of New Netherland.
