A flexible joint (27) has an extension (54) mounted to a housing (51,52) for relative angular displacement. Two or more annular elastomeric flex elements (61,62) are stacked in a co-axial fashion and joined mechanically to mount the extension (54) to the housing (51,52) so that the flex elements react in parallel to angular and axial displacements of the extension with respect to the housing so that tensile load upon the extension (54) places each of the flex elements (61,62) in compression to split and share the tensile load among the flex elements in proportion to their relative axial stiffnesses. Therefore, for a given housing size or footprint, the overall load capacity is increased, and the lifetime of the flexible joint is increased for a given load capacity. The flex elements may have a common center of rotation, and the flex elements may be disposed either on the same side of the center of rotation or on opposite sides.