beautiful city flags

Roman Mars' iconic 2015 TED Talk on Flag Design still stands as a triumph of design education to a mass public audience. By speaking plainly and succinctly about the importance of designed symbols in everyday life, he was able to raise awareness about our saturated visual culture, and prod us to think deeper about our surroundings. For me, the talk was a gateway into the world of vexillology (the study of flags), and it begged the question: if folks are able to pick up the cues of great flag design, would they someday be able to understand great architectural design in the everyday urban environment? I am a huge proponent of design education, and I believe good design matters to livelihood and public well-being. I am still trying to find the right way to communicate those ideas to the larger public, in a way that is relevant and entertaining.

Here is a list of city flags I love.

American City Flags

Chicago, Illinois

Designer: Wallace Rice
Year Adopted: 1917, updated 1933 and 1939
Proportions: 2:3

Source: Flag of Chicago
Design Features:

• White background represent the land; the North, West and South sides of the city
• Light blue lines represent water features; the top line symbolizes Lake Michigan and the North Branch of Chicago River, while the bottom line represents the South Branch of the River and the Chicago Drainage Canal
• The four red six-pointed stars reflect major historical events in Chicago's history, including:
  • The Great Fire of 1871, which signified the construction of modern Chicago
  • The World Columbian Exposition of 1893, which launched Chicago into the world stage
  • The Century of Progress Exhibition of 1933, which signified Chicago's status as America's second largest city
  • Commemoration of the founding of Fort Dearborn, the precursor to the city, in 1803, and the six flags that have flown over the city by various states and entities
• Six-pointed stars are used out of respect for the five-pointed stars of sovereign states

Washington, District of Columbia

Designer: Based on the coat of arms of the family of George Washington, from the 14th Century; granted to Lawrence Washington of Sulgrave Manor in 1592
Contributors: Charles Dunn (Initial Designer), Commissioner Melvin C. Hazen (Official Designer), and Arthur E. Du Bois (Official Designer)
Year Adopted: 1938
Proportions: 1:2

Source: Flag of Washington, D.C.
​Design Features:

• Flag features are based on the Coat of Arms of George Washington's ancestral family in England, dating back to the 14th century. This was used privately by the president at his residence in Mount Vernon.
• According to European heraldry, the design is known as argent two bars gules, in chief three mullets of the second.​
• Three stars across the top of the flag, known as mullets, and two horizontal bars below, all in red
• The flag committee selected Charles Dunn's design, based on Washington's Coat of Arms, due to the symbol's presence in the early drawings and documents of the city (i.e. a 1792 masterplan of the city), as well as for the first president and city's namesake.

Portland, Oregon

Designer: Douglas Lynch
Year Adopted: 1969 (Revised 2002, 2014)
Proportions: 3:5

Source: Flag of Portland, Oregon
​Official Flag Description, Portland Government
Design Features:

• Green background represents Oregon's forests, which surround the city.
• Intersecting blue lines represent water features; the vertical line symbolizes the Willamette, and the horizontal line symbolizes the Columbia River
• The central white star, called a hypocycloid, represents the city at the confluence of the rivers; this is inspired by the logo of the Port of Portland
• The yellow stripes represent the colors of wheat and commerce (gold)
• White stripes, known as fimbriations, are decorative

St Louis, Missouri

Designer: Theodore Sizer, Yale University Professor
Year Adopted: 1964
Proportions: 5:8

Source: Flag of St. Louis
​Longer History Blog, on Distilled History
Design Features:

• The colors of the flag represent the multi-national ownership of the city throughout history:
  • Bourbon France (White and gold) - When St. Louis was founded by French settlers in 1764
  • ​Spain (Red and yellow or gold) - When the city of St. Louis belonged to the Spanish Empire (1764-1800) after the Seven Years War
  • Napoleonic and Republican France (Blue, white and red) - when St. Louis fell under the leadership of Napoleon (1800-1803), who sold the city to the United States under the 1803 Louisiana Purchase
  • United States (Red, white and blue) - current nationality of the city
• The wavy blue bars represent the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers; the city is located at the intersection of the rivers
• The golden disk, known as a bezant, represents the city at the confluence of the rivers; the bezant, which is a Byzantine coin, historically means money or purchase, and recalls the Louisiana Purchase
• The blue fleur-de-lis symbolizes France and French heraldry, which celebrates the city's French background and King Louis XI, the namesake of the city

​
​International Flags

Hong Kong SAR, China

Kyoto City, Japan

Tokyo, Japan (Symbol Flag)

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Barcelona, Spain

Hagi, Yamaguchi, Japan