Raise the Flag

Part 1: Research and Ideation

• Mesa, Arizona (adopted 2005)
• The city flag for Mesa, Arizona was
adopted in 2005. It was chosen from a
competition, consisting of 24 finalists,
created by Mary Jean Crider. The
flag consists of a deep blue and yellow
color and has a ratio of 2:3. The yellow
is in the shape of a mesa with a sunburst
above it. In the disc of the sun is a
saguaro cactus. The designer created
balance by combining a bright color
with a darker color. The eyes first come
to the sun in the middle along with the
cactus, they then move along the sides
of the Mesa and alongside the rays from
the sun. This flag is simple design, easy
recognizable, distinctive, and
memorable. It uses meaningful
symbolism with the mesa shape and the
cactus.
• Seward, Alaska (adopted 2016)
• The city flag for Seward,
Alaska was inaugurated in December of
2016. It was chosen from 350 entries
created by children, replacing the previous
flag which consisted only of the city’s seal
on a white background. The flag has a
ratio of 1:1.5 using 4 colors, a bright blue,
yellow, and a white splitting the blue from
the green. Simple lines
are used, and repetition is created through
use of the same triangular shape. The
yellow star is placed in the upper right
quadrant. The flag is very simple, but also
has a distinct pattern and color. The star
also helps to keep the design distinct and
memorable. The viewers' eyes are first
brought upwards through the points of the
chevron pattern, then down through the
sides of the lines. Finally, the eyes move to
the star in the upper right of the flag. The
flag represents the steep mountains and
both summer and winter
plumage. The yellow star pays homage to
the Alaska state flag. Through the
simplistic design, but well thought out
meaning an effective flag is created.
• Riverside, California
(adopted 2020)
• The Riverside, California flag,
adopted in December of 2020, is the
third state flag of Riverside. It was
designed by Charles Bridges and was
recommended by the chamber of
commerce. The aspect ratio of the flag
is 2:1. The flag consists of a dark blue,
contrasted with a light blue and light
yellow. The bell tower on the left
applies to the rule of thirds and the
wavy lines on the right
create repetition. The dark blue brings
emphasis to the left side of the flag,
therefore bringing more attention to the
bell tower. When looking at the flag the
eye first starts at the dark blue and bell
tower, it then moves left, following the
curves of the lines surrounding the blue
and yellow shapes. The light blue
represents the Santa Ana River, and the
yellow represents the prominent hills
around the city. The bell symbolizes
the many missions made by Spanish
missionaries and the rain cross on top of
it recalls the Native Americans who first
lived there. The Designer kept the flag
simple, while creating a flag that had
both colors and symbols with
• Fishers, Indiana (adopted 2002)
• The Fishers, Indiana state flag was
adopted in September of 2002. The
design is simple, it consists of green and
blue sections separated by a white line,
two golden triangles are attached to the
crossing white lines. The white helps to
create balance and contrast between the
green and blue color and adds emphasis
to the center of the flag. When first
looking at the flag the eye goes first to
the center white part of the flag, then to
the green upper section and finally to
the lower blue section. The eye then
continues to move along the lines of the
diagonal white line and finally to the
gold triangles. The green in the flag
represents the town’s green fields, the
blue represents both the sky, the White
River, and the Geist reservoir. The
white represents the towns crossroads,
while the angled line represents the
towns growth and the gold
triangles represent balance, referencing
the town’s approach
to government. Overall, the designer
created an effective and memorable flag
by using symbolism and meaning, while
also maintaining a simplistic design.
• Des Moines, Iowa (adopted 1974)
• The Des Moines, Iowa, city flag was
adopted in March of 1974 after a group
of seventh graders suggested it. The
flag was chosen from 383 entries,
created by all ages of residents. The
aspect ratio of the flag is 12:24, and it
consists of a dark blue background, and
a red trapezoid on the left side. Three
bridges with arcs are spread across the
rest of the flag, parallel to the trapezoid
and growing increasingly larger. The
emphasis of the flag is on the blue side
of the flag and the white bridges help to
create contrast. The eyes first move to
the white bridges on the blue
background, then to the red trapezoid,
and finally the eyes follow the white
bridges off the page. The three bridges
represent the three bridges across
the Des Moines River which also serve
to unify the city. The Colors recall
those of The American Flag. The
designer of the flag
used meaningful symbols and kept the
flag distinct while also relating it to
another flag.
• Topeka, Kansas (adopted 2019)
• The city flag of Topeka, Kansas was
adopted in November of 2019. The
Previous flag
had the same green, yellow, and white c
olors, but instead with stripes and the cit
y seal, the new flag was chosen from
over 300 different designs. The new
flag consists of a white and blue
background with a yellow flower and a
white star. When looking at the flag the
eyes first move to the yellow flower,
then to the blue side and white star, and
finally to the yellow side of the
flag. The flower represents the state’s
flower, a sunflower, since the city is the
state capital. The nine petals on the
flower represent the nine city founder
and the green arow pointing towards the
star represents the states motto. The
designer used a limited color palette,
while also creating
a distinctive design. Though the flag is
not officially licensed it is used
throughout the city.
• Lawrence, Massachusetts (adopted 1
903-2002)
• The previous flag of Lawrence
Massachusetts was adopted in 1903 and
used until November of 2002. The new
flag is much less effective, it is simply
the city’s indecipherable seal on a white
background. This previous flag is
simple, just white lines on a blue
background. When looking at the flag
the eyes follow along the movements of
the white lines, moving throughout the
flag. The white lines on the flag
represent the Spicket, Merrimack, and
Shawsheen rivers, each in their
course. The design of this flag is fully
effective, the colors are distinct, while
they would still be able to
be determined in grayscale. The white
shape could be related to some other
flags while still being distinctive. The
reason behind the new flag is unsure,
but the old flag is much more effective,
as the new one would be
completely unrecognizable, just a small
gray blob on a white background.
• Washington, New York
(adopted 1992)
• The city flag of Washington, New
York, adopted in November of
1992, was the original personal flag of
George Washington. The aspect ratio of
the flag is 1:1.29, the original flag width
of 3:5 was stretched. The
flag contains 13 white six pointed stars
placed on a dark blue background, in a
3, 2, 3, pattern, all equally spaced. The
eye first moves between all the
stars, most likely moving from right to
left, then moving to the dark blue
background. The dark blue is most
likely much darker than what is thought
to be the original paler color, but this
flag well contains strong symbolism, as
the city is known as
“Washington‘s city“. The stars
represented the 13 colonies and the flag
is thought to
be Washington‘s Headquarters flag. Th
e flag is effectively designed to have
survived throughout history,
it hold deep symbolism, and is
something that several flags are related
too.
• Durham, North Carolina (adopted
1999)
• The city flag of Durham, North
Carolina was created by A1 Nicholas,
the winner of a flag contest held in
1999. The flag consists of vertical red,
yellow, and blue stripes. The red and
yellow stripes, the blue takes up more
than a third of the flag and consists of 7
white stars in two stacks of 4 and 3
stretched horizontally across the middle
of the flag. The color set effectively
creates both balance and contrast, and
the stars bring emphasis to the right side
of the flag. When looking at the flag the
eyes first move from the stars on the
blue, then to the red, yellow, and finally
back to the blue. The blue represents
courage, the red action and progress, the
yellow high quality in all growth, and
the white high ideals. The white stars
represent the New Spirit of Durham in
seven different areas, and also Taurus,
the Bull constellation, which the city
Birthday falls under and the city is
known as. The flag is effective because
while it is distinctive it is also related
and hold meaningful symbolism.
• Reno, Nevada (adopted 2018)
• The city flag of Reno, Nevada was
created by designer Tucker Stosic, and
was chosen in a contest containing over
2000 designs. The aspects ratio of the
flag is 2:3. The flag also consists of a
dark blue background, a circle in the
center brings emphasis to the flag,
containing mountains created from
negative space, a light blue and gray
stripe, and a yellow half circle filling the
space not already occupied by the
mountains. A light eight-pointed star is
placed in the upper left corner. The eyes
first start as the circle with the
mountains, moving throughout all the
elements filling it, then to the star, and
then from left to right on the flag. The
blue is representative of Nevada, the
silver represents the mining boom in the
area, above which lies the bright blue
Truckee, above which lies the Sierra
mountains, and the gold color above is
representative of the desert that Reno is
a part of. The designer created a
distinctive with a few basic colors,
while keeping it simple and
using meaningful symbols.
• Flag of Alabama (adopted 1895)
• The state flag of Alabama was
adopted in 1895, there was a previous
unofficial flag adopted in 1861 that was
a simple gold star on a blue field. The
flag consists of a white background
crossed in red X that is meant to be
no more than 6 inches broad. There are
not many specifications for the flag, the
biggest is about the aspect ratio, simply
that it cannot be in a square
shape. When looking at the flag the
eyes move with the lines created by the
red X throughout the flag. The state flag
is meant to be the crimson cross of St.
Andrew on a white field, although the
flag also pays tribute to Spanish rule
while also being patterned after the
Virginia Battle flag, from which troops
from the state fought in. The state is
effective as it stays away from lettering
and seals, while also maintaining only 2
colors. The 2 colors create contrast and
help to keep it distinctive, this along
with the meaningful symbol created by
the flag, help to create a flag that is
widely used.
• Alaska (adopted 1959)
• The State flag of Alaska, which was
adopted in 1959, was designed by Clay
Moss. The ratio of the flag is 1:1.4
and contains a dark blue field with 8
gold starts on it. The contrast in the
colors make sure that the flag would be
recognizable in grayscale. When
looking at the flag the eyes first move to
the large star in the upper right, then
through the constellation in the lower
part of the flag. The dark blue on the
field in a national color while also
symbolizing the sky, mountains, lakes,
and wildflowers that grow in
Alaska. The gold represents the wealth
hidden in the nature of Alaska. The
constellation of stars represents the
dipper, pointing to the larger star, or the
North Star, which the state is known
as. The flag was kept simple while also
having meaningful symbolism. This
along with its simplicity ensures an
effective flag.
• State flag of Kansas (adopted 1863)
• Isn’t simple and would be unreadable
at a distance. It uses more than 2-3 basic
colors, which would up the price and
availability of the flag. The flag contains
both lettering and seals. The flag
is undistinctive, it contains and often
used colors, the same font and design as
several other state flags.
• Flag of New Jeresy (adopted 1896)
• Complicated, a child would not be
able to draw it, and it is undecipherable
at a distance. Besides the seal, it has no
meaningful symbolism. Uses a
seal. Uses a often used design, therefore
it is indistinct.
• Flag of Nevada (adopted 1991)
• -Contains both lettering and a
seal. The design would be unreadable
from a difference and the tiny seal in the
upper corner is extremely ineffective,
the color is also widely used in the same
way in many other ineffective flags.
• Flag of Wisconsin (adopted 1863)
• The seal on the flag
is ineffective. Besides the seal it also
contains no meaningful
symbolism. The flag contains both
lettering and seals, and like several
other ineffective flags uses the same
colors, and design.
• Pocatello, Idaho (adopted 1999)
• The design is not simple. It contains
no meaningful symbolism. The flag
uses too many colors. The flag contains
not only lettering but also a copyright.
• Provo, Utah (adopted 1989-2015)
• The rainbow stripe on the bottom is
un-simple and would be hard
to replicate. The flag contains
zero meaningful symbolism. The
flag contains simply of lettering. The
flag is not distinctive, instead it only
contains something looking like it was
created in a word document in about
three minutes.
Five seasons/Timeless/Growth
• The idea of extra time, reflecting back on the idea of timelessness and
growth. Showing the rich history the city contains, but also the large
growth that happens there.
 Color
Pallette
Thumbnails
 Chosen
Thumbnails
Grid Layout
Achromatic
Comps
Color Comps
 Flag Overview
For my last project I was asked to redesign, or create, a flag for a real-life city, country, county, or region. After
studying the basics of flag designs, along with the five most important rules, I chose my destination. The city of
Cedar Rapids, in Iowa, currently has one of the worst flag designs. Its current flag consists of a bold lettering for the
city and state, along with an over detailed city line. This is a city near me, because of its reputation for having one of
the worst city flags, along with my connection with it, I decided to redesign their flag.
The city sits on the banks of the Cedar River, whose name comes from the abundance of Red Cedars growing on its
banks. The city has a history of the Cedar River flooding, including a flood in 2008, where the river reached 31 feet,
surpassing anything the city had ever experienced, and their 500-year flood plan. Over 14% of the city was
destroyed, along with most of the downtown. Despite the city’s experience with flooding, many historic locations
remain in the city, including the Czech village, which has preserved its rich culture. The city is known as one of the
best cities to grow up in, based off their low crime rates and its exceptional public school system. Its nickname is
“The City of Five Seasons”, stemming from the idea of there being a fifth season to enjoy all the other seasons,
along with showing a sense of timelessness and growth, present throughout the city. There is a sculpture of the five
seasons symbol on the banks of the Cedar Rapids in the downtown, which is used throughout the city.
In my flag design I included the Five Seasons design, placing it in the upper right corner. The wave on the left side
of the flag represents the Cedar River, and its history of flooding. The warm reddish brown of the Five Seasons
symbol represents not only the timelessness of the city, but also the color of the red cedar wood, which grows on the
banks of the river. The light and dark blue represent both the cedar river, and the trust and security that lies within
the town. The green represents growth, and the city’s reputation for being one of the best to grow up in. The blue
and the green remain as cool colors so that the brown of the five seasons logo can be the focal point of the flag.
Fig.1: Thumbnail Sketch Fig.2:Achromatic Lyout with Grid Fig.3: Color Comp with Grid
Fig.4: Proposed Flad Design for Cedar Rapids
Summary Of Changes Made after Receiving
Feeback
• Moved Five Seasons Symbol over and made smaller