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Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (U.S.)

Dauphin County

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 8 March 2008

Description of the flag
Variant "All America City" flag
Variant with border

See also:

Description of the flag

The NAVA image at www.nava.org/Flag%20Design/City%20Survey%202004/city_flag_photos/Harrisburg.jpg and shown in the American Flag Survey (2004) and American City Flags (Purcell, 2003) shows a very dark blue 3:4 flag with a thin golden yellow border (or fringe?) and a large white keystone centered on it, slightly offset to the top, charged with a dark blue line art representation of the local capitol dome (emerging from a cloud?) above three golden yellow crescents pointing up (set 2+1) and between a sun and a fleur de lis, both also golden yellow, near the top of the keystone. (If the keystone is interpreted as a shield this could be blazoned as Argent a dome azure and in chief dexter a sun Or and in chief sinister a fleur de lis Or and in base three crescents Or pointing upwards set in counterchevron.) Below the keystone the word "Harrisburg" arched upwards and set in golden yellow serif capitals.

At www.mike-snook.com/photos/tradelist/PA-HarrisburgPDTrader.jpg, a police badge uses the same emblem, also on blue, with the keystone bordered in red.
Here are some photos and texts about the Harrisburg Capitol dome:
www.warnerphotography.net/images/Capitol.jpg
www.eventective.com/USA/Pennsylvania/Harrisburg/
www.temple.edu/harrisburg/img/news/temple-harrisburg-capitol.jpg
www.flickr.com/photos/gailontheweb/5495565/in/set-138486/
www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=14100
António Martins-Tuválkin, 8 March 2008

A much older picture of the city flag is shown here (Myers Mfg Co. post card, 1908): www.ioffer.com/i/HARRISBURG-CITY-PA-FLAG-POSTCARD-FRM-MYERS-MFG-CO-1908-13126739. The main difference is the very thin border; yellow is rendered as gold; and clouds appear behind the crescents as well. It strikes me that the fleur-de-lis may refer to the short period when Harrisburg was called Louisburg.
Jan Mertens, 3 May 2009

Variant "All America City" Flag

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 8 March 2008

The website at http://harrisburg.pahighways.com shows a different flag at harrisburg.pahighways.com/images/harrisburgflag.jpg: It is rather a 4:7 medium blue flag with the seal centered on it in large size (~7/8ths of the flag height). This seal is very dark blue with a wide yellow border (and an outer dark blue rim) and shows a white keystone with a thin red edge; on it a dark blue line art representation of the local capitol dome above three yellow crescents pointing up (set 2+1) and between a sun and a fleur de lis, both also yellow, near the top of the keystone. On the yellow border, "City of Harrisburg" on the upper half and "All-America city" on the lower half, separated by mid-dots, all set in bold serif capitals.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 8 March 2008

In this photo, we see what appears to be the present flag of Harrisburg between the U.S., Pennsylvania, and Dauphin County flags (at left, visually) and "All America City" plus two unknowns (at right, visually). Narrow yellow border, letters seemingly gold (adding abbreviation "PA." after a comma) , and a the keystone narrowly bordered red. Keystone (contents unchanged but for the evaporated cloud) with narrow red border on a dark blue disk with yellow rim, outlined in dark blue, bearing title "CITY OF HARRISBURG / ALL-AMERICA CITY" (dark blue serif letters and two separating dots). The entire emblem or seal is placed on a medium blue field.

This All-America City is a title granted by the National Civic League: Harrisburg, PA received it in 1990. Briefly from ncl.org/programs.html:
"The All-America City Award is America's oldest and most prestigious community recognition award. Since 1949 the All-America City Award has encouraged and recognized civic excellence, honoring communities of all sizes (cities, towns, counties, neighborhoods and regions) in which citizens, government, businesses and voluntary organizations work together to address critical local issues."
Jan Mertens, 5 May 2009

Variant with border

image located by Valentin Poposki, 1 August 2009

Another variant of the flag of Harrisburg is shown in a large photo with visible details: www.yorkblog.com/explorer/flag.jpg. It has a yellow border and red border to the emblem.
Valentin Poposki, 1 August 2009