The flag of Nashville, Tennessee, consists of the city's seal on a white disc surrounded by a field of blue, with a strip of gold on the

fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

. According to the resolution adopting the flag, the blue stands for the courage and conviction of the city's leaders throughout history, while the gold denotes the richness of city's land and resources. The flag was adopted in December 1963 when the governments of Nashville and Davidson County merged to form the Metro government. In an official ceremony, it was reigned in as the new flag on August 4, 1964, at the Metropolitan Courthouse. The flag is modeled after the

Tennessee state flag The flag of Tennessee displays an emblem on a field of red, with a strip of blue bordered by white on the fly. The emblem in the middle consists of three stars on a blue circle also with a white border. The central emblem portion of the flag ha ...

History

The seal displays a Native American holding a

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

standing by a

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

plant, an

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

, and a badge-shaped shield decorated in a style similar to the

American flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the c ...

. The Native is said to be a representative of the "Woodland" culture contemplating the skull of a member of an earlier Native culture such as the

Mound Builders A number of pre-Columbian cultures are collectively termed "Mound Builders". The term does not refer to a specific people or archaeological culture, but refers to the characteristic mound earthworks erected for an extended period of more than 5 ...

. Though the ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

'' version of the flag included a monochromatic seal, today flags in Nashville are displayed with the seal in full color. Additionally, there is usually a thin white bar separating the outer strip of yellow from the blue

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

. Prior to the consolidation, the flag consisted of a blue star on a red background overlapped by two crossing white bars. The blue star was enclosed in golden

olive branch The olive branch is a symbol of peace and victory associated with customs of ancient Greece and connected with supplication to gods and persons in power. It is found in most cultures of the Mediterranean basin and became associated with peace ...

es located under the letter N, standing for the city name. It had been designed by Harville H. Duncan and adopted by the City Council in 1961. In a review by the

North American Vexillological Association The North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) is a membership organization devoted to vexillology, the scientific and scholarly study of flags. It was founded in 1967 by American vexillologist Whitney Smith (1940–2016), and others. Its ...

of 150 U.S. city flags, the Nashvillian flag came in 43rd with a rating of 4.85 out of 10. The group cited Nashville's use of its city seal, which they said makes flags difficult to discern from a distance. They also stated that the gold outer stripe would not have much functionality, because flags tend to fray, and the outer edge occasionally needs shaving. Mayor Bill Purcell commented, "Flags are a subjective thing. People in the rest of the country may not appreciate our unique flag. It's a flag that takes some time to get comfortable with. There are not many flags with a skull on it."Schrade, Brad (28 November 2004)
"What's in a flag? Nashville's gets mediocre marks"
''The Tennessean''.

References

* ttp://www.tndar.org/~francisnash/metro_flag.htm A page by the Tennessee Daughters of the American Revolution on the Metro Nashville flag* Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr. (1990). ''Flags of Tennessee''. Pelican. {{Flags of cities in the United States Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

1963 establishments in Tennessee