The following flags represent New York State. The flag above is the united rank flag, that represents New York's position as the 3rd and 11th state. Most papers and historians regard New York as the 11th state. Reason being, New York was the 11th state to ratify the US Constitution. Thus there are 11 white stars in the canton. But remember the US Constitution is the second, replacement government of the USA. The original government ran under the 'coding' of the Articles of Confederation.
The three golden starred flag represents New York's rank as the third state in the Original Union via the Articles of Confederation. Most historians and documents ignore or overlook the value of the first government. It is like a first embarassing love, that historians just want to forget. But history is history and New York got the 'bronze' for that order, under the Articles of Confederation on February 6, 1778.
The following flag with eleven white stars represents the dominant citation of New York being the 11th state, under the US Constitution.
Consequently the hour of New York is at the most scared hour of the night: 3:11 AM.
Funny note too is that NY and NJ are opposites with rank. New Jersey has three silver stars for being 3rd with the Constitution and eleven gold stars with the Confederation.
