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Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee (U.S.)

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 23 March 2008

Description of the flag
Former flag

- indicates flag is known.
- indicates it is reported that there is no known flag.

Municipal flags in Nashville and Davidson County:

See also:

Description of the flag

The flag of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, is dark blue, with a white-yellow "Tennessee-style" fly. It contains a white disk on which is county seal.
Source: Cannon (1990), Flags of Tennessee
Falko Schmidt, 3 December 2001

The NAVA image at www.nava.org/Flag%20Design/City%20Survey%202004/city_flag_photos/Nashville.jpg shows an Old Glory blue (B+++: very very dark blue) flag with a golden yellow Tennessee fly stripe and centered on the blue area a large disc (diam. 7/9ths of the flag height) the city seal. The seal shows a local native playing his Hamlet along with a tobacco plant, a shield of the US coat of arms (with stars) on which the eagle is perched crest-like — all in Old Glory blue on white monochrome. This scene is enclosed in a typical lettered rim where Old Glory blue serif capitals on golden yellow read "Metropolitan Government" from 10 to 2 o'clock and "of Nashville and Davidson County" on the remaining arc, separated by small stars. This rim is surrounded by an atypical frame, as if the whole were set on a particularly dense windrose with longer golden yellow, faceted tips for cardinal and collateral directions and stubbier, Old Glory blue ones for the 12 intermediate directions; North is marked by a fleur de lis, in both colors.

John Purcell mentions in American City Flags, pp. 229-232,that there have been some unofficial changes to the Nashville flag since its inception, including the addition of the white stripe, changes in coloring in the seal (added color now vs. blue & gold on white; gold feathers now vs. white; tobacco white previously, now gold with blue shading- same for the eagle; background now green grass, light blue sky and white clouds, shade of blue on the chief of the US shield is lighter now) and the lettering around the seal was previously blue and is now red.

So are these just variants of a single flag, or two different designs. If it was just the differences in the seal and lettering I'd say it they the same flag. It's the addition of the extra stripe that makes me hesitate to say that. See www.nava.org/NAVA%20Meetings/nava39/NAVA%2039_files/NAVA3921.jpg for photographic confirmation that in at least one case the white stripe is included and the seal is in added color. Also see www.nashville.gov/mocy/mayor_photo031.htm for a clear look at the reverse side.
Ned Smith, 23 March 2008

Detail of seal

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 24 March 2008

Detail of image on seal

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 24 March 2008

Former flag

image by Larry Pryor, 13 May 2003

The old Nashville flag was the city flag until the advent of metropolitan government in 1963. It was designed by Harville H. Duncan. And was adopted by the City Council sometime after 1952.
Larry Pryor, 13 May 2003