A Humble Proposal

A few weeks ago now, I wrote an opinion piece about the official flag of Rockland County and how I found it lacking. To recap, it’s very busy, shouts what it’s supposed to mean, and doesn’t feel representative of who we are as a community. I felt that an improvement could be made, and I still feel that way. So, this week, I’d like to debut my own design for the flag of Rockland County.

The flag I drew up is simple, but effective. The flag is blue and orange with a white design toward the right side. I took inspiration for the general layout of the flag from the flag of American Samoa with a Rockland flair added on. The structure is done in a hoist-pointing pile throughout the banner. My main inspirations when designing were the old flag of the Netherlands, featuring orange, blue, and white stripes, as well as the flags of surrounding counties like Orange county and Westchester. 

The colors were chosen due to the settlements belonging to Rockland being founded as part of the New Netherlands colony. Haverstraw, which first appeared on Dutch maps in 1616, is one of the oldest settlements in what was once the New Netherlands colony. Dutch heritage is sprinkled throughout Rockland county. Town/Village names, colonial architecture, and our colloquial name for the region derive in part from Dutch words and names. Haverstraw, Blauvelt, and New Hempstead all have names with Dutch etymology. The Tappan Zee, the colloquial name used to refer to the widest part of the Hudson River, has a mix of Dutch and Lenape origins with Tappan being an indigenous Lenape tribe from the area, and Zee being the Dutch word for “sea”. Flags of surrounding municipalities like New York City, Orange County, and Westchester feature similar color schemes. This flag would bring Rockland into continuity with those banners while remaining unique.

The design off to the left features a black bear done up in white with five stars circling around it. The bear is meant to represent Bear Mountain, a classic destination for families across Rockland and the region as a whole. The state park is a cornerstone of the Rockland community, and because of that I felt it warranted representation on our flag. The five stars of course represent the five towns of Rockland;  Orangetown, Clarkstown, Ramapo, Haverstraw, and Stony Point. 

The pile, which is the fancy flag name for the big triangle, pointing to the hoist, is a stylized depiction of the county borders. The old flag features a depiction of the county as well, which is much truer to how it appears on a map, but I felt that a more stylized version was cleaner and still got the point across without having to put “Rockland County” in big bold letters. 

Let us know how you feel about this design and if you’d like to see it considered to replace the current flag of Rockland County. If you have a design of your own, please send it in to the paper! We’d love to feature your design in our subsequent issues.