BILL NUMBER: S8525
SPONSOR: TEDISCO
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the state law, in relation to designating the colors
blue and yellow as the official colors of the state of New York
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this legislation is to establish blue and yellow as the
official colors of the State of New York.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
§ 93. State colors. The colors blue and yellow shall be the official 4
colors of the state of New York.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
On May 22", a fourth-grade class at Hillside Elementary School in the
Niskayuna Central School District visited the Capitol. They proposed
legislation to establish blue and yellow as the official colors of the
State of New York.
Below is a written statement from the fourth-grade class, as to why blue
and yellow should be established as the official state colors...
When composing our ideas as a class, we established the color blue to
represent water and the color yellow to represent light. For in their
absence, there is no life. We want all New Yorkers to "Live a Colorful
LIFE in New York." The color blue is associated with calmness, trust,
and loyalty. It can represent the open skies of New York and our state's
many vital waterways. The color yellow symbolizes happiness, joy,
sunshine, and hope.
Blue: New York's landscape contains a substantial number of essential
blue waterways that have shaped our state throughout history and contin-
ue to have an impact on the people of New York State; many of these
waterways are located in our Adirondack State Park. At 6.1 million
acres, it is the largest state park in the contiguous United States.
This gives us a sense of pride in our state! Blue, often associated with
the sky and water, can represent the vastness and serenity of the wild-
erness and natural beauty of the Adirondack State Park. In fact, our
state motto "Excelsior" translates into: "Ever Upward." The uplifting
phrase serves as a reminder that New York State is constantly moving
forward like our flowing blue waterways. These rivers supply our state
with water to support recreation, tourism, agriculture, fishing, power
generation, and manufacturing, while still providing habitat for our
diverse aquatic plant and animal life, such as our official freshwater
state fish, the brook trout. New York State is the only state that
borders both the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes. You may be
surprised to know that over 1.5 million gallons of our blue water flow
over Niagara Falls per second.
In addition, this year marks the 200th opening of the Erie Canal! The
blue waters of the canal connected and strengthened our state. It put
New York State on the map as the "Empire State" - leading in population,
industry, and economic enrichment. The Erie Canal transformed New York
City into the nation's principal seaport and opened the interior of
North America to settlement. The canal became the "Mother of Cities"
because it established so many important New York State cities, towns,
and villages.
Soon New York City became the nation's busiest port and immigrants knew
they could find work and strive for the American Dream through Ellis
Island. Ellis Island, known as "The Island of Hope (yellow) and Tears
(blue)" is where over 12 million immigrants entered the United States
between 1892 and 1924. It is said that 40 percent of our nation's popu-
lation is descended from the 12 million immigrants who landed there.
Yellow represents the hope and blue can sadly represent the tears and
remind us of those that were turned away at Ellis Island.
Not far from Ellis Island stands the Statue of Liberty. Representing
freedom, the parts of this statue were transported across the blue
Atlantic Ocean waters as a gift from France. It now is surrounded by
water and serves as a hopeful beacon for freedom. Yellow, therefore, is
also associated with its message of hope. Let's not forget, living along
our blue waterways are two meaningful creatures to our state, the east-
ern bluebird and the beaver. In 1609, Henry Hudson explored New York
Harbor and the Hudson River. He claimed the areas he explored for the
Dutch. When he returned to the Netherlands to report what he found on
his expedition, the Dutch were disappointed that he failed to find the
intended Northwest Passage. However, Hudson reported there were valuable
resources, such as beaver furs. This initiated the Dutch settlement of
New York State. The Dutch settled in present-day Albany and named the
first permanent European settlement in New York, Fort Orange. In the
1600s to 1840s, beaver skin was very popular. Beaver skin was in high-
demand because of its unique qualities, particularly for its pelt, which
was good for making hats due to its warmth, soft texture, and water-re-
pellent traits. Clearly, beaver inhabiting our blue waterways was a
foundation for our state. So, later in 1975, beaver became the official
state animal. The eastern bluebird is widely recognized as a symbol of
happiness, good luck, and new beginnings. Its appearance in spring is
often linked to the idea of renewal and new life. Its vibrant blue color
and beautiful song can bring feelings of hope and anticipation for posi-
tive change. The eastern bluebird, our official state bird, represents
for the people of New York State that even in difficult times, there is
hope and good times ahead.
It is evident that our blue waterways established the foundation, histo-
ry, and culture of New York State.
Yellow: Yellow, symbolizing hope and vigor is synonymous with the State
of New York. Yellow symbolism can be traced back to the Haudenosaunee
(Iroquois) inhabiting the land in our state. The Haudenosaunee, consist-
ing of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk nations united
to form the Iroquois Confederacy in 1570. Because the territories were
distributed throughout the land of New York State, chiefs from each came
together to make decisions in a Grand Council meeting in the central
Onondaga lands. For this reason, the territory is also known as the
Central Fire. The council had the responsibility to keep peace and
protect the people of the league. It's also important to note that some
historians believe the Haudenosaunee ideas of government had an effect
on the American governmental system. The drafters of the United State's
Constitution greatly admired the Haudenosaunee form of government and
borrowed several ideas for America such as a government with both
national and local parts with a "Central Fire" location, a way of keep-
ing any part of the government from having too much power (checks and
balances), a democratic government in which the leaders, the chiefs,
were responsible to the people. Therefore, the color yellow is undoubt-
edly associated with the Central Fire, essential to the indigenous
peoples of New York State and the underpinning of our national and local
governments.
Years later, between 1810 and 1850, it is estimated that the Underground
Railroad helped to guide 100,000 enslaved people to freedom. The Under-
ground Railroad was a network working to take enslaved people from the
southern United States to freedom in the northern U.S. and Canada with
routes passing through our state of New York. Due to the danger associ-
ated with capture, much of the activity occurred at night. Escaped
slaves traveled from safe-house to safe-house with the yellow flame of
lanterns in windows to mark safe stations. So, the yellow light was a
beacon of safe passage and symbolized hope and safety for those seeking
freedom. Some New Yorkers still put candles in windows to symbolize
comfort.
We can't demonstrate the importance of bright yellow lights without
mentioning New York City! Times Square is one of the world's most visit-
ed tourist attractions, drawing an estimated 50 million visitors annual-
ly to our state. It is widely known for its brightly lit digital bill-
boards and advertisements. It is also where the Broadway Theater
District is located. All of these bright lights and spotlights on the
rich Broadway history really puts a yellow spotlight on New York State!
New York State is currently home to almost 20 million people. We have
children, adolescents, adults, and seniors, across a colorful variety of
race and ethnic backgrounds. It's clear, New York State is one big
melting pot of blended colors. On our state flag, many colors are
represented, with blue and yellow being the primary colors. Pictured is
the sun rising behind mountains, displaying a message of hope. Lady
Liberty is clothed in blue and Lady Justice is wearing yellow, both
symbolic colors for our state.
It is evident that the colors blue and yellow illustrate who we are as
the people of New York State. The colors are where we come from, who we
are, and Excelsior!
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.