Memorial state flag revealed
Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled the official New York State Sept. 11 Memorial Flag last Tuesday, according to a Tuesday news release from the governor’s office. The flag was flown at the New York State Capitol and memorial entrance at the World Trade Center site to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
The dark blue flag shows a white silhouette of the twin towers, surrounded by a pentagon outline. Forty yellow stars border the five-sided figure, representing the fatalities from Flight 93, which crashed in Shanksville, Pa., on Sept. 11, 2001.
The simple phrase ‘We Remember’ is printed in white type below the flag’s image to remember the faces, stories and heroes from 9/11 and pass those memories on to future generations, Cuomo said in the release.
The flag was developed by the governor’s office and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. The museum will open in September 2012 on 8 of the 16 acres of the former World Trade Center site, according to the release.
The memorial features two reflecting pools — built where the original twin towers stood — surrounded by trees and two waterfalls. The museum will display 9/11 artifacts and tell the story of the 1993 and 2001 World Trade Center attacks.
Before its opening in 2012, the artifacts from the museum have been placed in 30 different exhibits across New York commemorating the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
The Syracuse Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology received a fire battalion chief car from the Fire Department of New York, a subway directional sign from the station underneath the World Trade Center and a display case of smaller building fragments. The artifacts are scheduled to be on display until the end of September.
Cayuga Community College in Auburn has a 16-foot-high piece of aluminum sheeting from one of the World Trade Center towers on display, along with a wooden railing with handwritten messages from families who lost their loved ones on 9/11.
‘People appreciate that they have something in sight that brings it back home,’ said Margaret Spillett, director of public relations and institutional communications at Cayuga Community College. ‘As I’ve walked by, people have been crying or giving a prayer. There’s a lot of emotion.’
Replicas of the flag will be sold by the memorial and museum. Proceeds go to the memorial’s operations and educational programs about 9/11.
‘The Memorial Flag is meant to serve as a long-lasting symbol of our respect for those who were lost on September 11th,’ Cuomo said in the release. ‘And our resilience in the face of tragedy.’
Published on September 11, 2011 at 12:00 pm
