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Haddam, Connecticut (U.S.)

Middlesex County

Flag proposal

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Flag proposal

images by Ethan Dubrow, 9 June 2024 and António Martins-Tuválkin, 1 August 2024

In August 2013, the Haddam Board of Selectmen proposed a flag. Whether or not this particular flag — or any flag at all — was adopted is shrouded in mystery. The original image is in black and white (above left), and I include my interpretation on what the flag may have looked like (upper right).

Source (paywalled) https://www.middletownpress.com/news

This proposed town flag will be discussed at the Haddam Board of Selectmen meeting Thursday night.
Journal Register Co.

HADDAM >> Should Haddam have its own flag?

That's the question officials will try and answer during an informational meeting this evening. The Board of Selectmen is holding the meeting in Town Hall beginning at 6:30 p.m.

In the wake of the town's 350th birthday celebration, a group of young men stepped forward to ask why the town didn't have a flag, First Selectman Paul J. DeStefano explained on Wednesday.

"Printed on the white section of the flag is an emblem of an osprey, which is a bird that is native to Haddam," Height and Wettemann said. The osprey is shown swooping motion, with its wings flared out behind it. In its claws, the bird holds two symbols of Haddam; the left foot holds a shad, while the right foot holds an ear of corn. Above the osprey is the old water town which stood in Higganum Center. The seal of the town is drawn on the water tower. Above the water tower are the words â€œTown of Haddam."

The seal is modeled on the Great Seal of the United States, Height and Wettemann noted.

"The two green stripes represent both sides of the Haddam, as we are the only town in the state that is bisected by the Connecticut River," the two flagmakers explained in their explanation of the flag. The green represents the many forests that dot the town's landscape, while the field of white is for the snow of our sometimes way-too-long winters. The corn represents the town's farming heritage, while the shad represents the central place the fish has had not just in Haddam's history but in the history of the state as well.

Actually, the shad appears twice on the flag: once clutched in the osprey's talons, and the second time on the town seal. The osprey is meant to represent the wildlife which has been so vital to the town for so many years.

The water tower "is a symbol of what we have built in this town," Height and Wettemann said. And that means not just industry, but homes and schools as well, they said.

Including the town seal recognizes the role of the town government as well as serving as a tribute to "those who volunteer their time to make us safer every day," the two men explained.

DeStefano said the selectmen hope to gauge the interest of citizens at tonight's meeting and then make a decision whether or not to commission the flag.

Ethan Dubrow, 9 June 2024

A 3:5 vertical triband of green and white in extra Canadian style (width of each green stripe less than 1/4 of the flag’s height) with a very large emblem on the white area, in black, showing an osprey in a dramatic pose with its wings outretched and its head down and holding in its talons a fish (hoist side) and an ear of corn (fly side), and behind it a rustic water tower charged with a roundel containing what seems to be a civic seal (state map with two human figures on it and some writing), and an inscription arched above all and reading "Town of Haddam" set in serif capitals.

António Martins-Tuválkin, 29 July 2024