How the Philadelphia city flag got its colors

The Philadelphia flag looks blue and yellow to the naked eye, but there is deepness in hues.

Having seen multiple city flags with different shades of blues and yellows, a reader asked Curious Philly, The Inquirer’s forum for questions about the city and region: What are the official colors of the Philadelphia flag?

Philly’s flag is azure blue and golden yellow, according to the city’s home rule charter.

Azure is the color of the sea in the French Riviera, and the dust that is left after grinding the mineral azurite. Gold emulates the metal it is named after and is often associated with wealth and royalty.

With no riviera around and the British and their monarchy driven away from the city in 1778, why this color scheme?

A reverend from Ohio called Henry C. McCook is the man behind the creation of the Philadelphia flag, according to Partners for Civic Pride.

McCook wrote to then-Philly Mayor Edwin Stuart advocating for a city flag in October 1894, insisting it was an important symbol for civic loyalty. His passion was such that he included sketches and a concept of what he thought the flag should look like.

“The colors of Philadelphia are blue and gold,” McCook wrote, basing his argument on the colors of the city’s coat of arms, a design usually placed on shields to represent an individual, family, or place.

Philadelphia had multiple attempts at creating its coat of arms. The official one came in 1874, when Colonel Frank Marx Etting incorporated elements from previous iterations in his own style to create the city seal that is featured in the middle of the Philadelphia flag to this day.

In December 1894, McCook was assisting the Committee on Fourth of July Celebration on the creation of an official flag and a new city flag ordinance.

Their report determined their color options were limited to the hues used in the Philadelphia shield that bore the city coat of arms, based on two city ordinances from 1854 and 1874.

“Is scarcely possible to say accurately what determined their choice for the colors of our City Shield,” the report read.

» READ MORE: Design your own version of Philadelphia's flag

The members of the committee theorized blue was picked for being “the color of the heavens, and signifies primarily the higher life and the virtues of faith.” And gold was chosen due to being a “metal of greatest value, is an emblem of high worth or eminent renown-of sovereignty and prosperity.”

Other theories have pointed to the flag colors honoring Sweden. The committee‘s report has no mention of an association.

“The Swedish ‘color connection’ exists as lore and is not the truth of the matter,” the Partners for Civic Pride website reads.

The committee, along with McCook, then choose a bright azure for their shade of blue. Finding the right yellow was harder because the gold wasn’t an option.

“Metallic gold cannot be used in flags except for secondary decoration,” the report reads, because it would be too expensive and make the flag too heavy to wave in the wind.

They recommended golden yellow, a hue that fits within the parameters and is easy to dye in bunting or silk — the materials the Philly flag must be made from, according to the city’s home rule charter.

As part of the report, the committee recognized the flag would be costly to make, and recommended a cheaper version to be used by commercial buildings, the city boats, Philadelphians homes, and in parades.

Today, this is what might be causing the shade difference in Philadelphia flags. By having different makers, the hues can be slightly different, said Margaret Hughes, first deputy from the Office of the City Representative.

“It’s probably more related to the vendor or printer being used. There are other entities who print cards or order flags other than the City,” Hughes said.