EXHIBIT 31 (1)

                                 CERTIFICATION
                           BY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
                             PURSUANT TO RULE 13A-14

I, Angelo De Caro, certify that:

1. I have  reviewed  this  quarterly  report on Form 10-QSB of Patriot  National
Bancorp, Inc;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact  necessary to make the statements
made, in light of the  circumstances  under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3.  Based  on my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other  financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial condition,  results of operations and cash flows of the small business
issuer as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The small business  issuer's other  certifying  officer and I are responsible
for establishing and maintaining  disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the small business issuer and
have:

     (a)  Designed  such  disclosure  controls  and  procedures,  or caused such
disclosure  controls and  procedures to be designed  under our  supervision,  to
ensure  that  material  information  relating  to  the  small  business  issuer,
including its  consolidated  subsidiaries,  is made known to us by others within
those  entities,  particularly  during the period in which this  report is being
prepared;

     (b) [Omitted as permitted by Exchange Act Release No. 47986];

     (c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the small business  issuer's  disclosure
controls and procedures and presented in this report our  conclusions  about the
effectiveness  of the disclosure  controls and procedures,  as of the end of the
period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

     (d) Disclosed in this report any change in the small business issuer's most
recent fiscal quarter (the small business  issuer's fourth fiscal quarter in the
case of an annual report) that has materially affected,  or is reasonably likely
to  materially  affect,  the  small  business  issuer's  internal  control  over
financial reporting; and

5. The small business  issuer's other  certifying  officer and I have disclosed,
based  on  our  most  recent  evaluation  of  internal  control  over  financial
reporting,  to the small


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business  issuer's  auditors  and the  audit  committee  of the  small  business
issuer's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

     (a) All significant  deficiencies and material  weaknesses in the design or
operation of internal  control over  financial  reporting  which are  reasonably
likely to  adversely  affect  the small  business  issuer's  ability  to record,
process, summarize and report financial information; and

     (b) Any fraud,  whether or not material,  that involves management or other
employees who have a significant  role in the small business  issuer's  internal
controls.


                                         /s/ Angelo De Caro
                                         ------------------
                                         Angelo De Caro,
                                         Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
                                         (Principal executive officer)
August 13, 2003