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Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (Canada)

1:2 image by Eugene Ipavec
Source: Canadian City Flags, Raven 18

Charlottetown
Current Flag
Coat of Arms
Former flag

See also:

Charlottetown

According to the municipal profile at the city website (a 30 page pdf file) the City of Charlottetown was founded in 1995, from an amalgamation of municipalities. Since the arms were granted to the "old" city, the "new" city is using the arms and flag illegally until they petition the Heralds for the arms.

The City is much older than that. In 1864, Charlottetown hosted the conference between political leaders that ended up forming the Dominion of Canada in 1867, even though Prince Edward Island didn't join Confederation until 1873.
Dean McGee, 10 December 2005

Current Flag

Text and image(s) from Canadian City Flags, Raven 18 (2011), courtesy of the North American Vexillological Association, which retains copyright. Image(s) by permission of Eugene Ipavec.

Design

The flag of the City of Charlottetown is a banner of its arms, surrounded on three sides by a green and white border. Its field is white (officially silver), in the centre is a rectangle bearing a royal crown and with four smaller rectangles joined at each of its corners. The rectangles are all green and in proportions of 1:2; the central rectangle is 5/16 the length of the flag, the other rectangles are half that length. The crown is white, with five jewels of red-green-blue-green-red, two fleurs-de-lis of white, and a red interior. The border is formed by alternating rectangles of green and white, such that the white rectangles are part of the white field. The border rectangles also meet in angled corners at the fly end of the flag. The flag has been made in Pantone colours Silver 427C (field), Green 349U, and Lavender 253U.
Rob Raeside, Canadian City Flags, Raven 18, 2011

Symbolism

Charlottetown was selected as the county seat of Queens County in the colonial survey of 1764, and named for Queen Charlotte Sophia, wife of George III; she is represented on the flag by her coronation crown. The crown also underlines the city’s importance as the provincial capital and an important community in the Canadian federation. The green rectangles (squares, if the flag were depicted in proportions of 1:1) refer to Queens Square Charlottetown, and the four historic squares in old Charlottetown (Rochford Square, Connaught Square, Hillsborough Square, and Kings Square). The pattern of the border emulates that on the provincial flag.
Rob Raeside, Canadian City Flags, Raven 18, 2011

Selection

The city applied to the Canadian Heraldic Authority for a grant of a flag.
Rob Raeside, Canadian City Flags, Raven 18, 2011

Designer

Robert D. Watt, Chief Herald of Canada, Canadian Heraldic Authority.
Rob Raeside, Canadian City Flags, Raven 18, 2011

Coat of arms

image located by Chris Pinette

Heraldic Grant

I the Chief Herald of Canada do by these Presents grant and assign to the CITY OF CHARLOTTETOWN the following Arms: Argent on a square Vert joined at each corner with a smaller square Vert a representation of the coronation crown of Queen Charlotte Sophia of England proper.
…
AND I DO FURTHER grant and assign the following Flag: A banner of the arms the three edges in chief fly and base charged with a bordure compony Vert and Argent;

The shape (and colours) of the crown is specified: the crown of Queen Charlotte, "proper". The drawings show the crown white/"argent" with purple lining. Also note that while the text states that the arms consist of four Green Squares, the banner of arms stretches these squares to rectangles.
Dean McGee, 10 December 2005

Former flag

1:2 image by Eugene Ipavec
Source: Canadian City Flags, Raven 18

Charlottetown used another flag in the 1980s and 1990s. On a field of grey appears the city seal, about half the height of the flag, consisting of a disc surrounded by a white ring edged on the inside and outside in black, inscribed CITY of CHARLOTTETOWN PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND in black serif letters running clockwise from its base. In the centre of the disc is a scene in red, black, white, and grey showing a plough and a sheaf of wheat on a hillock in the foreground, and a tall skip at anchor on the ocean in the background, flying a red flag. A white ribbon with forked ends reads INCORPORATED in black sans-serif letters; at the base of the disc is AD. 1855 (the city’s founding date).
Rob Raeside, Canadian City Flags, Raven 18, 2011