Last December, a little-known writer named Zachary Manning wrote on Medium.com, a little known website, that New Jersey’s state flag was “obsolete” and needed to be replaced. Click here for link to his post: https://medium.com/@zmanningdesign/past-time-to-update-the-state-flag-for-new-jersey-6ec260c2007c. He published that post shortly after Minnesota replaced its state flag. Last week, an opinion column in the Bergen Record suggested that New Jersey also replace its state flag. Click Here For Link: Should the New Jersey state flag get an update? Other states’ are (northjersey.com)
This seems to be part of an orchestrated movement to replace many state flags.
Today, Illinois announced that it was replacing its state flag and inviting artists to propose a new design.
Some said that the old Minnesota state flag that was “cancelled” last December was offensive. That is because it depicted an American Indian warrior riding his horse by a white farmer who was plowing his field. Last December, Minnesota adopted a new state flag. Some say that new flag closely resembles the flag of the “Somali Democratic Republic”. That nation has been in a continuous civil war since 1990 between radical Islamic jihadis and a socialist party which claims to support “an ideology merging elements of Islam and Marxism”. Click Here For Link to: Freedom of religion in Somalia – Wikipedia
There is nothing offensive in New Jersey’s state flag. It features our state motto “Liberty and Prosperity” and two ancient Roman goddesses standing on it. Our organization takes its name from our state motto. Both the motto and those symbols were made part of our official state seal during August of 1776. That was one month after the United States declared its independence in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.
The Goddess of Liberty stands to the left on our New Jersey flag. In her right hand, she holds a long wooden pole, draped with a red cap. The red cap is the Liberty Cap or Phrygian Cap. According to legend, ancient Roman slaves who had gained their freedom wore that cap to show they were now free. The long wooden pole, or pike, was the only weapon a common man in Europe could afford. It was useless in the hands of one man fighting alone against an armed knight on horseback. However, if every man in the county gathered with his pike to defend the rights of any one family whose rights were threatened, together they could knock a knight off his high horse.
The figure on the right of our New Jersey flag is an ancient Roman goddess of prosperity. In her left hand is a cornucopia or “horn of plenty”. That is an ancient symbol of prosperity. We believe the founders of New Jersey chose this design for our state seal because they understood that Liberty and Prosperity go together.
Liberty exists when government secures the right of each individual to make the most important decisions of his or her own life. That includes the freedom to pursue opportunities, the right to enjoy the benefits of good choices, and the responsibility to accept the consequences of bad ones. Where there is Liberty, there is also Prosperity. When government fails to equally secure liberty for each individual or destroys it with excessive taxes, debt, or other government controls, it also destroys prosperity.
If Zachary Manning and the opinion writer of Bergen Record have their way, the New Jersey state flag will no longer teach that lesson. Manning suggests replacing our current state flag with the one depicted below:
In his words:
The yellow stripes reflect the coastline beaches that our state is so well known for. The smaller stripes are each one sixth of the height of the flag. A unique attribute that is surprisingly uncommon among flags in general. At center the green stripe is a call to the agricultural roots of the garden state.
Atop the center stripe sits three white stars. The same star that symbolizes each state on the national flag. Three is an important number to the state for two reasons. It was the third state to ratify the constitution and the state is divided into three parts; North, Central, and South. (Don’t get me started on Central Jersey doesn’t exist.)
For those that are resistant to change I think that the flag also works well in tandem with the seal. The colors are in sync with one another. Couldn’t you imagine both of these flags behind the governor’s podium? If you have any opinions on the design I’d love to hear them. Do you think it’s time for change?
Don’t take these little known opinion pieces lightly. For roughly 350 years, elected county representatives in New Jersey were called freeholders. That word means people who legally own and pay taxes on land. At that time, the tax on land was the only tax in New Jersey, other than tariffs, or sales taxes on goods bought from foreign countries. During New Jersey’s first hundred years as a British colony and its first thirty years as a state, only freeholders or landowners could vote or hold public office. The founders of our state believed that only those who paid taxes should decide how tax money should be spent.
When that was done, taxes in New Jersey were lower than those found in almost any society in human history. Most county governments had only four paid positions. There was a county judge to decide disputes, a county clerk to record deeds, a county sheriff to enforce the law, and a county surrogate to care for the property and dependents of people who died.
After 1807, there was a populist movement in New Jersey and the rest of America that allowed citizens to vote and hold office without owning property or paying taxes. However, we continued to use the term “freeholder” to describe legislative bodies at the county level for the next 210 years without any problem.
However, around 2018, certain “woke” Democrats claimed, without any evidence, that “freeholder” was a racist and sexist term. Just the opposite was true. The word “freeholder” was completely gender and color blind. Until 1807, any New Jersey citizen who owned property and paid taxes could vote and hold office, regardless of sex or race. It was only after citizens could vote without owning property and paying taxes that New Jersey disqualified blacks and women from voting and holding office.
However, during the summer of 2020, Governor Phil Murphy and “woke” Democrats in the legislature suddenly introduced and passed a law that abolished the term “freeholder” for county government legislatures. It substituted the word “commissioner”. This was done when most citizens and elected officials in New Jersey were distracted by the coronavirus epidemic, the George Floyd riots and the Presidential Election.
Click Here for Link to Wikipedia Article: Board of County Commissioners (New Jersey) – Wikipedia
Are “woke” Democrats preparing to do the same thing with our New Jersey state flag and “Liberty and Prosperity”. Are they prepared to pass new laws to get rid of both as soon as they think voters and community leaders are again distracted and they have the opportunity?
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