SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane Flag Commission received more than 400 design options as the city looks for a new flag.
The city put a call out for submissions with certain criteria such as no texts or too many colors.
Councilwoman Kate Burke, who is on the commission, said only about seven submissions don't meet the criteria. There are a lot of options for community members to choose from so far.
"So we'll be going through the designs together and kind of eliminating the ones that maybe didn't fit the qualifications, we're not going to be too stringent because we want to accept art the way it is," Burke said.
The idea is to have a meaningful but simple flag that's easy to recognize and replicate.
The commission also wants it to be a point of pride, something that makes you think of Spokane when you see it.
Here's a look at some of the designs submitted:
Here are the next steps in the selection process:
- The commission will review the designs tonight before posting them online to get public feedback.
- A website will soon be up with all the approved designs, then you will get to rate them on a scale of 1 to 5 stars.
- They'll pick the top 5 or 10 and show them to city council asking for the go-ahead.
- The final phase will be a formal public vote at their local library. Voters will need a city library card to weigh in.
- Once a design is picked, flags will start being made and the plan is to unveil it some time next year.
Burke first suggested the city adopt a new flag, which the city finally agreed to do in June of last year. The Commission met for the first time in December of 2019.
Spokane's flag became a hot topic once again when it was the subject of a viral TikTok made by Gonzaga student Bradley Miller. He called the flag "an atrocity."