Released 02 October 2004

WASHINGTON, D.C. TOPS AMERICAN CITY FLAGS SURVEY, POCATELLO PLACES LAST

 

The flag experts of North America have completed their first survey of American city flags, identifying the best and worst civic flags in the country.  They found some great designs and many more that need improvement.

 

NAVA, the 450-member North American Vexillological Association, conducted a poll on its website, asking members and the public their opinions of 150 flag designs: the 100 largest cities in the U.S., all state capitals, and at least two cities per state.  Vexillology is the study of flags.

 

 

10 Best Flags:

 

1. Washington, DC

2. Chicago, IL

3. Denver, CO

4. Phoenix, AZ

5. St. Louis, MO

6. Wichita, KS

7. Portland, OR

8. Indianapolis, IN

9. Louisville, KY

10. Corpus Christi, TX  

10 Worst Flags:

 

141. Montpelier, VT

142. Cedar Rapids, IA

143. Provo, UT

144. Lubbock, TX

145. Hialeah, FL

146. Mesa, AZ

147. Milwaukee, WI

148. Rapid City, SD

149. Huntington, WV

150. Pocatello, ID  

 

Responses came in from NAVA members and over 400 members of the public.  Participants rated the design qualities of the flags on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 the best score.  They were asked to rely on their personal sense of good flag design in rating the flags, which appeared on the web site.

 

NAVA members preferred simple, brightly-colored, and distinctive flags; they scorned flags with complicated designs, city seals, or writing on them.  They chose Washington, DC, Chicago, and Denver in first, second, and third place, all with scores around 9.  They More than two-thirds of the city flags scored below 5 points.  The flags of Rapid City, SD, Huntington, WV, and Pocatello, ID were rated the worst, along with four other flags receiving below 2 points.

 

The survey celebrates the publication of NAVA’s book, “American City Flags:  150 Flags from Akron to Yonkers”, the culmination of 40 years of research by former NAVA president Dr. John Purcell and a team of fellow vexillologists.

 

In 2001 the organization conducted a similar survey on state and provincial flags, in which New Mexico, Texas, and Quebec came out on top, and Georgia’s flag placed last.  In April of this year Georgia voters rejected that flag in favor of a new design.  Amid that survey’s publicity, visits to NAVA’s website went from 100,000 hits per month to 100,000 hits per day.

 

NAVA members are meeting this week in Indianapolis at their 38th annual convention [October 8-10].  Fortunately, the host city’s flag scored a 7.2, placing it in the top ten.

 

The public's ratings paralleled those of NAVA members quite closely.  Their insightful comments showed a strong intuitive grasp of flag design and confirmed NAVA’s expert opinions on design principles.  One doesn’t need to be a member of a flag group to know a good flag design.

 

NAVA has invited each respondent to become a member.  Continuing its support of scholarship, NAVA is sponsoring a city flag research paper contest among students, with details on its website.

 


The highest-scoring flags all embody the five basic principles listed in NAVA's flag-design guide, “Good Flag, Bad Flag”:

 

1.  Keep It Simple  (The flag should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory)

 

2.  Use Meaningful Symbolism  (The flag's images, colors, or patterns should relate to what it symbolizes)

 

3.  Use 2B3 Basic Colors  (Limit the number of colors on the flag to three, which contrast well and come from the standard color set)

 

4. No Lettering or Seals  (Never use writing of any kind or an organization's seal)

 

5. Be Distinctive or Be Related  (Avoid duplicating other flags, but use similarities to show connections)

 

“Good Flag, Bad Flag” is downloadable free from the NAVA website:  www.nava.org.  It can help any organization, tribe, company, family, neighborhood, city, county, state, or even country design a great flag.

 

The survey was conducted over the Internet and lasted five months.  It has contributed new insights into the public perception of flags and their design.  It was promoted on NAVA’s website (www.nava.org) and in its newsletter, on the unequalled flag website “Flags of the World” (www.fotw.net), and in the on-line American Vexillum Magazine (www.americanvexillum.com).

 

Ted Kaye, editor of NAVA's scholarly journal and author of “Good Flag, Bad Flag”, conducted the survey; Richard Gideon, NAVA's former webmaster, designed the survey page; David Martucci, NAVA’s president, created the art work.


REPRESENTATIVE SURVEY COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC

 

The flags I liked the most were simple, evocative, and distinctive.

 

I’m amazed how beautiful some city flags are—Richmond and New York rival most state flags in beauty.  I was equally surprised by how tacky or just plain god-awful some of the designs were.

 

There are a few of these that I doubt have ever been produced in cloth.  Sadly, some have.

 

Tell everyone to stop writing all over their flags.  This would help immensely.

 

Tampa’s flag looks worse than their baseball team’s record, although there’s a weird charm to it. 

 

Some flags are reason enough to keep flag burning legal; if I were in Pocatello or Provo, I’d buy up the entire stock of their flags and use them for winter heating!

 

Chicago is the standard by which all US city flags should be judged. 

 

It’s nice to see that there are cities in the US which understand good flag design.

 

The best flags do not merely incorporate a seal; they incorporate the icons, colors, and patterns of the region.  The worst city flags might be mistaken for the city’s tourist campaign logo. 

 

Had the people designing Lubbock never seen a flag?

 

Phoenix: best, simple, interesting.  The image tells you exactly which city it is.

 

I wouldn’t want to live in a city with a flag like a mediocre company logo.

 

A great pat on the back to the unique and pleasing designs found in the Des Moines and Portland, Oregon flags.

 

A good flag should be able to be identified with out any writing on it.

 

Several of these flags could be modified and become really quite decent city flags

 

Good God!  Can’t this country do any better?  Most of these flags are embarrassments.  Some look like each member of the city council took a turn adding something to a sheet! 

 

I had no idea that Louisville, Kentucky had such a cool flag!

 

American city flags are, generally speaking, a disaster. 

 

Especially disheartening are those “city flags” which seem to be the convention bureau’s letterhead or a bumper sticker from the tourist office

 

If the results of this survey prompt a city to change a flag for the better, it will be worth it.

 

I love flags in which the name of the location isn’t on the actual flag.  I find it sad when a place doesn’t feel that its flag doesn’t say “home” enough on its own [without words].

 

The trouble with most city flags is that they look like CITY flags!

 

A flag should be symbolic; if you’ve the name of the city written on it I think you’ve missed the point.

 

I would be happy to mock most of these flags at great length should anyone like to hear vexillological standup at a NAVA convention.

 

A few very striking designs in a sea of tedium.

 

Some of these cities have certainly read the NAVA “Good Flag, Bad Flag” book . . .

 

[end of quotes]

 

 

 

All 150 city flag designs can be found on the NAVA website at:  http://www.nava.org/city_survey.htm

 

American City Flags may be purchased at www.nava.org or on Amazon.com.

 

NAVA MEMBERS’ SURVEY SCORES

150 City Flags Rated       [10 = high]     

 

Rank                                                      Score

1

Washington

DC

9.17

2

Chicago

IL

9.03

3

Denver

CO

8.86

4

Phoenix

AZ

8.65

5

St. Louis

MO

8.56

6

Wichita

KS

8.41

7

Portland

OR

8.38

8

Indianapolis

IN

8.35

9

Louisville

KY

8.11

10

Corpus Christi

TX

8.02

11

Madison

WI

7.92

12

Jackson

MS

7.83

13

San Antonio

TX

7.79

14

Des Moines

IA

7.77

15

Richmond

VA

7.76

16

New Orleans

LA

7.74

17

Irving

TX

7.65

18

Baltimore

MD

7.64

19

Colorado Springs

CO

7.05

20

Fremont

CA

6.79

21

Dallas

TX

6.27

22

Cincinnati

OH

6.26

23

St. Petersburg

FL

6.24

24

Pittsburgh

PA

6.06

25

Albuquerque

NM

5.89

26

Omaha

NE

5.59

27

Minneapolis

MN

5.58

28

Annapolis

MD

5.39

29

Anchorage

AK

5.33

30

Seattle

WA

5.32

31

Philadelphia

PA

5.30

32

Buffalo

NY

5.26

33

Los Angeles

CA

5.24

34

Albany

NY

5.20

35

San Francisco

CA

5.14

36

Fresno

CA

5.12

37

New York

NY

5.11

38

Jacksonville

FL

5.03

39

Birmingham

AL

4.97

40

Sacramento

CA

4.97

41

Springfield

IL

4.89

42

Wilmington

DE

4.88

43

Nashville

TN

4.85

44

St. Paul

MN

4.80

45

Montgomery

AL

4.76

46

Topeka

KS

4.76

47

Oakland

CA

4.74

48

Shreveport

LA

4.74

49

Fort Smith

AR

4.73

50

Charleston

WV

4.71

51

Salem

OR

4.71

52

Fort Wayne

IN

4.62

53

Rochester

NY

4.61

54

Memphis

TN

4.56

55

Houston

TX

4.55

56

Raleigh

NC

4.48

57

San Diego

CA

4.47

58

Arlington

TX

4.45

59

Cleveland

OH

4.45

60

Casper

WY

4.42

61

Riverside

CA

4.42

62

Austin

TX

4.38

63

Jefferson City

MO

4.36

64

Concord

NH

4.30

65

Tallahassee

FL

4.29

66

Charlotte

NC

4.24

67

Fort Worth

TX

4.24

68

Trenton

NJ

4.24

69

Chesapeake

VA

4.20

70

Miami

FL

4.18

71

Detroit

MI

4.17

72

Columbus

OH

4.09

73

Grand Forks

ND

4.09

74

Harrisburg

PA

4.09

75

Little Rock

AR

4.06

76

Mobile

AL

4.05

77

Worcester

MA

4.02

78

San Jose

CA

3.97

79

Tampa

FL

3.97

80

Baton Rouge

LA

3.95

81

Cheyenne

WY

3.95

82

Newark

NJ

3.86

83

Plano

TX

3.86

84

Carson City

NV

3.85

85

Columbia

SC

3.83

86

Garland

TX

3.79

87

Jersey City

NJ

3.79

88

Lincoln

NE

3.79

89

Dover

DE

3.77

90

Long Beach

CA

3.70

91

El Paso

TX

3.67

92

Santa Ana

CA

3.65

93

Las Vegas

NV

3.61

94

Toledo

OH

3.61

95

Bismarck

ND

3.59

96

Atlanta

GA

3.58

97

Augusta

ME

3.58

98

Greensboro

NC

3.48

99

Salt Lake City

UT

3.47

100

Stockton

CA

3.45

101

Warwick

RI

3.44

102

Glendale

AZ

3.38

103

Kansas City

MO

3.38

104

Aurora

CO

3.36

105

Grand Rapids

MI

3.36

106

Billings

MT

3.35

107

Burlington

VT

3.23

108

Lansing

MI

3.20

109

Olympia

WA

3.18

110

Augusta

GA

3.15

111

Spokane

WA

3.15

112

Lexington

KY

3.11

113

Bakersfield

CA

3.09

114

Boise

ID

3.05

115

Pierre

SD

3.05

116

Norfolk

VA

3.00

117

Santa Fe

NM

2.97

118

Manchester

NH

2.95

119

Hartford

CT

2.94

120

Glendale

CA

2.92

121

Gulfport

MS

2.92

122

Honolulu

HI

2.91

123

Helena

MT

2.89

124

Tulsa

OK

2.88

125

Virginia Beach

VA

2.88

126

Akron

OH

2.86

127

Yonkers

NY

2.86

128

Scottsdale

AZ

2.80

129

Providence

RI

2.79

130

Oklahoma City

OK

2.74

131

Portland

ME

2.74

132

Tacoma

WA

2.74

133

Boston

MA

2.71

134

Juneau

AK

2.70

135

Tucson

AZ

2.67

136

Charleston

SC

2.61

137

Anaheim

CA

2.56

138

Maui

HI

2.56

139

Bridgeport

CT

2.50

140

Frankfort

KY

2.41

141

Montpelier

VT

2.35

142

Cedar Rapids

IA

2.23

143

Provo

UT

2.14

144

Lubbock

TX

1.92

145

Hialeah

FL

1.85

146

Mesa

AZ

1.73

147

Milwaukee

WI

1.59

148

Rapid City

SD

1.56

149

Huntington

WV

1.50

150

Pocatello

ID

1.48


 

All 150 city flag designs can be found on the NAVA website at:  http://www.nava.org/city_survey.htm

 

North American Vexillological Association
PMB 225, 1977 N. Olden Ave. Ext.
Trenton, New Jersey  08618-2193  USA

www.nava.org

 

NAVA publishes a quarterly newsletter, NAVA News, and an annual scholarly journal, Raven.  It hosts a website and holds annual meetings of flag scholars.

 

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