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Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion
Columbus Needs a New City Flag
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emilyerhodes
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Anybody have any idea how much it would cost to replace our city flag?
I'm asking...but I'm guessing it's a lot...
Assuming the design is free...all of that material, and remaking flags for all city buildings, replacing it on letterhead, etc etc...Not to mention how it would hog time for more crucial issues while the design is approved and adopted.
I am curious. How much would it take?
Posted 2 years ago # -
johnwirtz
Evanston, IL
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emilyerhodes wrote >>
Anybody have any idea how much it would cost to replace our city flag?
I'm asking...but I'm guessing it's a lot...
Assuming the design is free...all of that material, and remaking flags for all city buildings, replacing it on letterhead, etc etc...
Not to mention how it would hog time for more crucial issues while the design is approved and adopted.
I am curious. How much would it take?Awww. Way to spoil my fun with practicality :)
Posted 2 years ago # -
Talcott
Clintonville
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Wow. At least our flag looks better than Cleveland's or Cincinnati's.
I like johnwirtz's design, but I'm not sure what to do with the colors. I wouldn't want it to be scarlet and gray. OSU is a big part of Columbus, but I don't want any one thing to define the city, and OSU already does so as much as anything else does. At the same time, while there must be some historical reason for the red and yellow, I don't feel like that speaks to Columbus either. I think blue and gray would work well, but I imagine there are vocal OSU folks who would object to anything blue ;-) Actually, if I were designing it for myself, the flag would be Brown and Gray, but I find those colors much more attractive than most people do.
What about blue on top, and green on the bottom half. The cross already gives us an intersection (and to my eyes an airplane) which represents the urban nature of Columbus, and adding green and blue could represent the more rural side. I could even see the skyline represented in silhouette in the horizontal bar.
Posted 2 years ago # -
dru
IV
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John McCollum
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I don't really care about a flag, per se, but Columbus could certainly use a unified branding campaign. Unfortunately, the current leadership in the city doesn't really believe much in such things.
I asked the mayor about the city's brand -- what makes Columbus distinct from other cities its size -- and he said, "The people in the city are what makes it great; city brands aren't made by agencies or firms, but by the people."
Agreed.
Sort of.
I believe that Columbus has spent money in the past on marketing campaigns -- either by the Chamber of Commerce or the Visitor's Bureau, and has not gotten any thing memorable or even particularly useful. But I do think that there's gold in them thar hills, and that we can and should work on defining not just our assets, but our points of contrast.
What makes us different from Indy, other than the presence of OSU and lack of NFL? We should know and we should have a set of useful brand assets -- colors, logos, typefaces and words that can be leveraged at a high level by the city, by residents and by businesses alike.
Montreal has done a good job.
Posted 2 years ago # -
joev
Merion Village
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The current flag of Columbus is not quite a travesty, but it's pretty bad. It's a fairly boring tricolor with a ton of crap in the middle. The Santa Maria in in there, inside an American shield, a semi circle of some plants and a semi circle of stars surround an eagle holding the American flag on supporting what looks like the rotunda of the Statehouse. That's a lot of stuff that doesn't really mean anything!
This actually brings up an interesting point: The American flag is idenitfible within the Columbus flag. There's no way the Columbus flag would be identifiable within some other flag. (Perhaps Beechwold has its own flag and includes the Columbus flag inside of it, with the American flag inside the Columbus flag.) That's not good.
"Columbus, Ohio," is spelled out in a gothic font, no doubt a nod to the German heritage of some Columbusites. I always think writing on flags is a bad idea. Flags should be understood through symbols, they shouldn't need explanation. But if a flag has to have writing, I think a sans serif font is best of legibility from a distance.
Here's my design for a new Columbus flag.
A tricolor is a very traditional basis for a flag. Using non-primary colors pulls this design out of the 18th century and into the modern era while still retaining a classic background, just in the way that Columbus is modern city built on the traditions of the past.
The grey field represents techonology. The blue field represents our bountiful water resources. The green field represents the verdant patches of our city, our agricultural heritage and our commitment to the green movement.
I struggled for a while about what to put at the center of the flag - Columbus doesn't have a single defining icon. To me, Columbus is a city in which the good life is accesible to a lot of people. Our cost of living is low. Our quality of life is high. There are still opportunties for people who work hard, and people can create their own opportunities as well. Nothing speaks to the idea of a sweet life and affordable luxuries better than ice cream. And we happen to be a mecca of great ice cream, to boot. Ice cream is informal and fun. And ice cream is never going out of style. Ever. And also, the triangle is the strongest shape. This flag is unique and identifiable. So there you go.
More badflags herePosted 2 years ago # -
arenn
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Better branding is critical for Columbus. It's got a way better product than is generally known out there in the world. I addressed this with some idea here:
http://www.urbanophile.com/2009/05/17/columbus-the-new-midwestern-star/
Of course, the easiest way to fix this is just to hire me as "brand czar"! :)
Posted 2 years ago # -
dubdave00
Dublin
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John McCollum wrote >>
"The people in the city are what makes it great; city brands aren't made by agencies or firms, but by the people."So what if we embraced this? Instead of an agency-created brand, what if our city's look, image, and feel was a grassroots brand that was eventually embraced by the local government? That's how the Short North came into being: Grassroots energy drove it and now the city embraces it.
Don't get me wrong... I love the Montreal designs. I love great design. But there is some truth to what the Mayor is saying. We have great, talented people in this city. If some people wants to make "the brand", I say go for it.
If we're the "indie capital" then we should do things the "indie" way. That's how we could stand out. If every other city is hiring pro's to make their brands, our city is different because our citizens stood up and did it themselves. It's that DIY spirit that should drive this... Just like with these flag mockups.
Seriously, have the flag lady or somebody make your design and fly it high. I think it would be cool if our city had hundreds of grassroots flags over one "official" flag.
Or maybe I've just watched too many American Revolution docs with all of the grassroots flags people flew. :)
Posted 2 years ago # -
John McCollum
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dubdave00 wrote >>
John McCollum wrote >>
"The people in the city are what makes it great; city brands aren't made by agencies or firms, but by the people."So what if we embraced this? Instead of an agency-created brand, what if our city's look, image, and feel was a grassroots brand that was eventually embraced by the local government? That's how the Short North came into being: Grassroots energy drove it and now the city embraces it.
Don't get me wrong... I love the Montreal designs. I love great design. But there is some truth to what the Mayor is saying. We have great, talented people in this city. If some people wants to make "the brand", I say go for it.
If we're the "indie capital" then we should do things the "indie" way. That's how we could stand out. If every other city is hiring pro's to make their brands, our city is different because our citizens stood up and did it themselves. It's that DIY spirit that should drive this... Just like with these flag mockups.
Seriously, have the flag lady or somebody make your design and fly it high. I think it would be cool if our city had hundreds of grassroots flags over one "official" flag.
Or maybe I've just watched too many American Revolution docs with all of the grassroots flags people flew. :)I like the idea. I really do. But crowdsourcing does not work well for this type of thing. There's something to be said about a disciplined, professional approach. Certainly there should be lots of input from various local constituencies, but this sort of thing does not just evolve.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Urban Knight
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Front:
Back:
[But in flag-flying-form.]
Posted 2 years ago # -
JonMyers
HCMC ✈
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John this is an awesome idea and discussion.
A flag redesign may slightly alter or jolt the public psyche of Columbus and has the potential to have a really positive impact. Even more so if the feedback loop is public for refinement of the design.
I like the flag concept you put out there. It's graphically strong.
I hope you keep pushing on this concept.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Kate Baldwin
Clintonville
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Wow! Good call! You're right, our current flag kinda sucks. I like your flag design, which is also slightly reminiscent of the Flying J design (a midwest fixture):
http://media.photobucket.com/image/flying%20j%20sign/hoosier1956/Nov162009001.jpg
Posted 2 years ago # -
johnwirtz
Evanston, IL
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Kate Baldwin wrote >>
Wow! Good call! You're right, our current flag kinda sucks. I like your flag design, which is also slightly reminiscent of the Flying J design (a midwest fixture):
http://media.photobucket.com/image/flying%20j%20sign/hoosier1956/Nov162009001.jpgThanks. I don't really want Columbus' brand image to be associated with a truck stop, but I do like that it kind of looks like an airplane as Talcott said.
Posted 2 years ago # -
groundrules
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I find this bordering on ridiculous. We need a brand? for what? seriously. what is a spiffy flag going to do for the city? I'm only being a little bit snarky. But I seriously doubt our deficient flag is the ball and chain keeping our city from eventual greatness.
I'm betting until this thread, most of you had no idea what our flag looked like, let alone the flags of those other cities. Anyone ever look at Madison's flag and think "radical. I'd love to visit there and then buy a condo and start a business!"
I just hope to hell the ice cream cone is a joke.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Emar Tino
Over your shoulder... no, the other one.
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I love the idea in general and I'm impressed by some of the design concepts. The Columbus/OSU relationship is interesting. Perhaps scarlet and grey can be incorporated but not dominate? It is a big component to the city, but it shouldn't subsume the city's identity.
Also, while I like the Broad & High "flying cross" concept, remember that crosses on flags have traditionally been a religious reference (England, Scotland, etc.). A modern design might want to avoid appearing to favor Christianity.
Finally, I'm not certain costs would be that bad. If the design was free, the new image could simply be brought in as the old-style flags deteriorate. Flags do not have that long of a life-span.
Posted 2 years ago # -
johnwirtz
Evanston, IL
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groundrules wrote >>
I find this bordering on ridiculous. We need a brand? for what? seriously. what is a spiffy flag going to do for the city? I'm only being a little bit snarky. But I seriously doubt our deficient flag is the ball and chain keeping our city from eventual greatness.
I'm betting until this thread, most of you had no idea what our flag looked like, let alone the flags of those other cities. Anyone ever look at Madison's flag and think "radical. I'd love to visit there and then buy a condo and start a business!"
I just hope to hell the ice cream cone is a joke.I'm no marketing major, but it seems to me that the point of a brand is to increase recognition of a product or service and influence what potential customers (residents, businesses, tourists, etc...) think of that product of service.
Corporations go to great efforts to create a consistent brand identity through a combination of color choices, graphic design, slogans, advertisements, etc... My guess is that you can recognize a McDonalds building from far away just by its shape. You know a UPS truck form any side when you see one, because they patented their version of the color brown.
I think a lot of this can apply to cities. There may even be more at stake with what people think of a city than what people think of Coke vs. Pepsi. What do you think of when you think of Detroit? New Orleans? Miami? New York? Chicago? Portland? I think these cities have clear identities (although Detroit might like to change theirs). Columbus, on the other hand is not as well known. I'm not sure what people think when they think of Columbus. Probably the same thing I think of when I think of Omaha. Kind of a blank city somewhere in the middle of the country. I think that lack of an image can hurt Columbus' ability to attract residents, offices, conventions, and major events.
Boss: "We have a position available. It's in Columbus."
Applicant: "Where's that?"
Boss: "Ohio."
Applicant: "Oh."vs.
Boss: "We have a position available. It's in Columbus."
Applicant: "Sweet, I've heard good things about Columbus."I agree that a flag alone isn't going to change what people think of Columbus, convince anyone to move, or set up a business, but it's one potential element of a civic brand and design portfolio that could influence Columbus' identity.
Even if the flag is useless, I still think it's kind of fun to talk about and see what other people would do given the opportunity to start from scratch.
Posted 2 years ago # -
groundrules
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johnwirtz wrote >>
it seems to me that the point of a brand is to increase recognition of a product or service and influence what potential customers (residents, businesses, tourists, etc...) think of that product of service.quick: name ten places where you've seen a columbus flag. Now, name 10 places where someone from any other city might see a columbus flag. Hell, 5 places.
johnwirtz wrote >>
Even if the flag is useless, I still think it's kind of fun to talk about.Well there's certainly precedent for that.
Posted 2 years ago #
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