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Portsmouth, Rhode Island (U.S.)

Newport County

image located by Daniel Renteria, 22 July 2022

Description of the flag
Coat of arms

See also:

Description of the flag

The flag can be seen in http://harddeadlines.com/2016/03/07/portsmouth-celebrates-founding-display-1638-compact. It is medium blue with seven wavy yellow stars.

In https://riliberator.com/2020/08/28/friday-flagging-portsmouth/, the flag is described in detail, but I think the stars look different.
Daniel Renteria, 22 July 2022

The RI Liberator version is close, but the stars have to be thicker and have some kind of circle in the middle.
Masao Okazaki, 22 July 2022

As the creator of the image and blog post on RI Liberator, I'm fully transparent there that this an adjustment of the Portsmouth flag since I personally didn't find the estoiles in John McDaid's image aesthetically pleasing (in addition, arrangement is largely conjecture). This close-up of the Portsmouth flag as displayed in the RI State House was taken in October of 2021, and displays a different style of estoile. So there is at least disagreement between different government sources.
Howard, 31 August 2023

According to https://www.portsmouthri.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/10650?fileID=16768:
The flag of Portsmouth was adopted in 1976, the American Bicentennial year. That year, the Portsmouth Town Council asked Elizabeth Anthony Wilkey, a Rhode Island School of Art Design graduate and art teacher, to create the flag. To create this flag, she connected it to the coat of arms of Portsmouth, England (which in turn, inspired the coat of arms of the city 300 years ago).
Daniel Rentería, 30 June 2024

Coat of arms

image located by Daniel Rentería, 30 June 2024
Source: https://riliberator.com

Per the Tercentenary Commission:

"Azure seven etoiles of eight points on in an orle of six around the seventh. On a blue shield, seven eight-pointed gold stars, six in a circle around the seventh. This device of six stars around a seventh was used on the seal of the Town Council of Portsmouth as early as 1676. The colors are taken from the arms of Portsmouth, England, viz.: Azure a crescent within its jaws an etoile of eight points or."

The etoile taken from the coat of arms of Portsmouth, England can be seen above its crescent. It is unknown why the coat of arms uses seven etoiles; some theories include the date of the signing of the Portsmouth Compact (7 March 1638) or being a number signifying completion and perfection as found in the Bible.
Daniel Rentería, 30 June 2024