Proposed Milwaukee Flag Design
Proposed Milwaukee Flag
Digital College
18 cm x 13 cm
November 2016
A flag represents an establishment and its attributes. Using certain guidelines, I created a flag design that represents Milwaukee in an appropriate and simple way by using basic colors and shapes. The blue represents the water of Lake Michigan, and the green represents our award-winning parks. The 3 stars across the middle represent our founding fathers: Solomon Juneau, Byron Kilbourn, and George Walker, who came together to create our amazing city.
Digital College
18 cm x 13 cm
November 2016
A flag represents an establishment and its attributes. Using certain guidelines, I created a flag design that represents Milwaukee in an appropriate and simple way by using basic colors and shapes. The blue represents the water of Lake Michigan, and the green represents our award-winning parks. The 3 stars across the middle represent our founding fathers: Solomon Juneau, Byron Kilbourn, and George Walker, who came together to create our amazing city.
Going Further
A flag is a piece of cloth used as a symbol to represent a country or an establishment. So if a city has a nicely designed flag, it will give a positive impression of the people. Milwaukee is a great city, but it's flag says otherwise. It's actually one the worst flags in the Nation according to a poll conducted in 2004 by the North American Vexillology Association (NAVA). In a TED Talk by Roman Mars, he talks about how there are too many components in the flag and points out, using Steve Kodis's words, that the Civil War battle flag of the Milwaukee regiment is in the flag itself (Mars). The Milwaukee flag breaks all the guidelines set in place by the NAVA and a change should occur.
Milwaukee's Current Flag
Created by Alderman Fred Steffan in 1955
Components:
Created by Alderman Fred Steffan in 1955
Components:
- The gear in the center represent industry
- The Native American head represent Milwaukee's Native American origins
- A golden stalk of barley represents brewing
- The ship represents Milwaukee as a port city.
- Milwaukee's skyline including City Hall.
- The blue background and waves represent Lake Michigan and the rives that run through Milwaukee.
The 5 Basic Principles of Flag Design
1. Keep it simple
2. Use meaningful symbolism
3. Use 2-3 Basic Colors
4. No lettering or seals
5. Be distinctive or be related
*Extra note: It should be simple enough that young children should be able to draw it by heart.
(NAVA)
1. Keep it simple
2. Use meaningful symbolism
3. Use 2-3 Basic Colors
4. No lettering or seals
5. Be distinctive or be related
*Extra note: It should be simple enough that young children should be able to draw it by heart.
(NAVA)
Process
After finding out about this project, I researched Milwaukee's history and found what objects and events were significant. I also found information on flag designers and watched a TED talk video explaining vexillology- the Milwaukee flag was focused on a bit. Then, using my research and the guidelines, I created various sketches of flags. I initially drew them in a one by one and a half inch rectangle because from far away the flag is going to look small. The rectangle was also meant to be small so that one doesn't add too many parts. A flag should be simple and easy to see from far away. The flags shown to the right are my sketches that I recreated in Paint, which is a basic drawing program. With Paint, I was able to add color and shapes that were accurate. To the right is a page in my notebook with some sketches and various notes.
|
|
After finally choosing a flag to stick with (the 5th flag), I went into Adobe Photoshop and recreated it, but with more precision process. I was able to bring up the ruler around the flag, so the stars and colors are even and proportional. Starting off, I put down the two background colors, green and blue. Green to represent the parks, and blue to represent Lake Michigan. I felt like the basic blue and green colors were too bold so I modified them and in my opinion, it made it easier to look at. The green became a bit lighter and I decided to have a blue green type-hue because Lake Michigan isn't exactly blue. It's more of a blue with a hint of green. Lastly came the stars. There was a tool in Photoshop that allowed me to create stars of any shape and size, so I created one and used the same exact one for the three others. Like the other colors, yellow was a bit bold for me so I softened it to make it look like a bit creamy, but with a more prominent yellow hue.
The flag design I created is simple and follows the rules of a good flag design, but there isn't a lot of symbolism, which I wish I had more of. While researching, there were a lot of things I could of used to put in my flag which I didn't. For example, I could of included the three rivers that run through Milwaukee, a gear to represent industry, and a stalk of barley to represent brewing. These these can be seen in my sketches, but I decided to use stars over all them because they were simple and gets a point across. Many people don't know about the founding fathers, and without those three men, we wouldn't have Milwaukee. If my flag were to be chosen, many people will wonder what the stars mean and they will learn about our founding fathers. We know who the founding fathers of our country are, but why not those of our city?
The flag design I created is simple and follows the rules of a good flag design, but there isn't a lot of symbolism, which I wish I had more of. While researching, there were a lot of things I could of used to put in my flag which I didn't. For example, I could of included the three rivers that run through Milwaukee, a gear to represent industry, and a stalk of barley to represent brewing. These these can be seen in my sketches, but I decided to use stars over all them because they were simple and gets a point across. Many people don't know about the founding fathers, and without those three men, we wouldn't have Milwaukee. If my flag were to be chosen, many people will wonder what the stars mean and they will learn about our founding fathers. We know who the founding fathers of our country are, but why not those of our city?
Artistic Inspiration
|
George Stanley holding the Canadian flag he created
|
The flag he created is very nice. It follows the guidelines for a good flag and many people know it. I used the Canadian flag as an inspiration because it's simple, basic colors are used, and the maple leaf in the center has good symbolism. Similar to mine, it has basic colors, and stars that represent the founding fathers.
Works Cited
- "Bio: Colonel George F. Stanley, FRHSC (Hon)." Heraldry. Web. 6 Nov. 2015. <http://www.heraldry.ca/misc/bios/bio_stanley.htm>.
- "Flag of Milwaukee." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 9 Nov. 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Milwaukee>.
- Hilmer, Norman. "George Francis Gillman Stanley." The Canadian Encyclopedia. 16 Jan. 2008. Web. 6 Nov. 2015. <http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/george-francis-gillman-stanley/>.
- Kaye, Edward. "The American City Flag Survey of 2004." (2004): 61. Print.
- Kodis, Steve. "Milwaukee Flag." The People's Flag of Milwaukee. Web. 9 Nov. 2015. <http://www.milwaukeeflag.com/>.
- Kaye, Ted. Good Flag, Bad Flag: How to Design a Great Flag. Trenton, NJ: North American Vexillological Assoc., 2006. Print.
- Mars, Roman. "TED: Ideas worth Spreading." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. 1 Mar. 2015. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.
- Moody, Tarik. "TED Talk Speaker Roman Mars Calls Milwaukee's Flag 'a Hot Mess'" TED Talk Speaker Roman Mars Calls Milwaukee's Flag 'a Hot Mess' 19 May 2015. Web. 9 Nov. 2015. <http://www.radiomilwaukee.org/flag>.
- Steffan, Fred, Alderman. Milwaukee Flag. Digital image. Radio Milwaukee. N.p., 19 May 2015. Web. 6 Nov. 2015. <www.radiomilwaukee.org/flag>.
- Staseson, Heidi. "Creator of Canada's Maple Leaf Flag Was Proud of His Calgary Roots." Calgary Herald. 15 Feb. 2015. Web. 6 Nov. 2015. <http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/creator-of-canadas-maple-leaf-flag-was-proud-of-his-calgary-roots>.