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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.
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
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