https://www.ted.com/talks/roman_mars_why_city_flags_may_be_the_worst_designe d_thing_you_ve_never_noticed?language=en

I just watched this TED talk on city flags. The video shows examples of good and bad design. I love this statement about the value and importance of city flags, "The marriage of good design and civic pride is something that we need in all places. The best part about municipal flags is that we own them. They are an open-source, publicly owned design language of the community. When they are done well, they are remixable, adaptable, and they are powerful. We could control the branding and graphical imagery of our cities with a good flag, but instead, by having bad flags we don't use, we cede that territory to sports teams and chambers of commerce and tourism boards. Sports teams can leave and break our hearts. And besides, some of us don't really care about sports. And tourism campaigns can just be cheesy. But a great city flag is something that represents a city to its people and its people to the world at large."

Based on the following criteria, Oklahoma City's flag is considered bad:

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 2-3 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)

http://www.chicagonow.com/chicago-strange-haunted-history/files/2015/04/City-Flag.jpg
Chicago

http://flaglane.com/download/washington-dc-flag/washington-dc-flag-graphic.png
DC

http://media.tumblr.com/efcd623a8125af74151b6bc4731400ec/tumblr_inline_mj00zxG8v41qz4rgp.png
Amsterdam

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f6/OKC_flag.png
Oklahoma City

Let's start a movement to change our city flag into something we can proudly display everywhere.

Does OKC have an official flag or is that just the city seal?

The flag is the seal in the middle of a white square as shown above. Pretty lame and not considered good flag design. I have only seen it displayed in front of City Hall.

OK. If they want to improve it, I have no problem with that. I also have little reason to be concerned about leaving it just as it is. I don't think it has any significant affect on anything important to do with the city.

After reading an article in the Oklahoman about this last year I designed a City flag. I'll post it later tonight.

A good design (IMO) that I have seen was also used by the Energy FC supporters in one of their tifos:

10863

I actually like that as our city flag. What does the blue and green symbolize?

I actually like that as our city flag. What does the blue and green symbolize?

Team colors.

I have actually collected city flags in my travels. They are popular points of civic pride in Europe especially (where many of these cities were once independent city-states, etc. and have long histories with particular heraldry and symbology). They are usually inexpensive and easy to pack and are more meaningful souvenirs. I bought this one about 15 years ago in Berlin:
10871

And that standing bear has become a city icon appearing everywhere...like on the side of its subway cars.
10872
It is the symbol of Berlin (instead of the WALL!)

I love that flags can tell a city's story in ONE visual symbol. The hard part is coming up with the elements of design that simply, interestingly, and accurately represent a city's identity.

Here are some that I think are particularly effective in the U.S. (with a focus on examples from the region):
10864 Wichita has a nice one!

10865 Dallas is pretty good. A bit busy in the middle.

10866 Denver's is excellent, I think. It ties in with the CO state flag and follows some of the other design rules listed above. This is the type of flag design that a city can really take advantage of in branding.

10867 Phoenix is pretty good. Not sure the color choice really represents the desert SW, but the tie-in with the name is cool.

10868 ABQ's is almost right on. Lose the city name at the bottom and you have a winner I think.

And lastly,...ever wonder why Pittsburgh's teams are black and gold? I LOVE that they city's teams borrowed from the city flag and decided that black and yellow means Pittsburgh. Cool unifying element for the city.
10869

I love this stuff, I could go on and on. I just think it is so interesting to try and make a statement about a huge subject in such a concise way as flags require. Fascinating. Can't wait to watch the TED talk posted above.

Most city flags are poorly designed and not a source of civic pride, therefore, they are rarely displayed. Amsterdam and Chicago display theirs proudly. When an officer dies in Chicago there casket is draped with the city flag, not the American flag. As the video suggests, sports teams come and go, tourism marketing campaigns come and go. How about something more enduring as a brand for the city?

http://willothewisp.nl/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Amsterdam-flag.jpg

http://www.dailyherald.com/storyimage/DA/20141117/news/141118654/AR/0/AR-141118654.jpg&updated=201411171942&MaxW=800&maxH=800&updated=201411171942&noborder

After reading an article in the Oklahoman about this last year I designed a City flag. I'll post it later tonight.

That's great. Can you post a link to the article as well?

Love the logo for the city of Phoenix, it's great. I have always loved Chicago's flag.

Team colors.
Right. But if it is a city flag possibility, they will have to stand for something that applies to the city, not just the colors of the Energy.

A good design (IMO) that I have seen was also used by the Energy FC supporters in one of their tifos:

10863

Wow, perhaps that's our new city flag. It says so much right there.

Here is the article Just the facts was referring to: Oklahoma City's Mayor Cornett wants to display flag offerings | News OK (http://newsok.com/oklahoma-citys-mayor-cornett-wants-to-display-flag-offerings/article/4988272)

Has there been any follow-up to this?

I actually really love that tifo design as the flag.

A good design (IMO) that I have seen was also used by the Energy FC supporters in one of their tifos:

10863

I see it as blue skies and green grass with the Memorial Tree.

I remember reading this article last year, and if I remember right a lot of FB comments of people wanting it left alone. Was surprised by that. I'd like to see it changed for sure. I have always liked DC's flag cause it's plain and simple. I guess I never realized the one was Denver's although I know I've seen it when I was in town. I like it as well.

I remember reading this article last year, and if I remember right a lot of FB comments of people wanting it left alone. Was surprised by that. I'd like to see it changed for sure. I have always liked DC's flag cause it's plain and simple. I guess I never realized the one was Denver's although I know I've seen it when I was in town. I like it as well.

Denver also uses the same colors as the Colorado flag. The design is completely different, but there is still a connection.

Colorado's flag is awesome, easily one of my favorites. I feel like it's fairly recognizable as well. Something to think about is that Oklahoma's flag doesn't necessarily fit the criteria of a great flag, although I think it's close. Maybe remove the name and enhance the Choctaw shield and simplify it.

Something to think about is that Oklahoma's flag doesn't necessarily fit the criteria of a great flag, although I think it's close. Maybe remove the name and enhance the Choctaw shield and simplify it.

funny thing is, the current flag design didn't originally have the state name on it... just the shield and blue field. not that i have any problems with the current design, but i kind of like our original state flag better than the current one. -M

Colorado's flag is awesome, easily one of my favorites. I feel like it's fairly recognizable as well. Something to think about is that Oklahoma's flag doesn't necessarily fit the criteria of a great flag, although I think it's close. Maybe remove the name and enhance the Choctaw shield and simplify it.

Colorado is nice, but the Arizona flag is great

I actually like that as our city flag. What does the blue and green symbolize?

team colors yes, but they actually say they drew some inspiration from the state flag

Colorado is nice, but the Arizona flag is great

I do like Arizona's, probably my second favorite.

team colors yes, but they actually say they drew some inspiration from the state flag

I wonder what it would look like with the light blue instead of the dark? It may washout the tree as is.

Found this while searching flags, I've always liked flags and this got me all stirred up.

Your State Flag Stinks: Oklahoma (http://yourstateflagstinks.blogspot.com/2010/10/oklahoma.html)

The original State flag looks pretty good.

Just for fun.

c7yMz8vbMgk

The best ones the country are all pretty close neighbors if not bordering neighbors, actually: AZ, CO, NM, and TX. Those are the top state flags, IMO. For a top five I would include AK as well.

The best ones the country are all pretty close neighbors if not bordering neighbors, actually: AZ, CO, NM, and TX. Those are the top state flags, IMO. For a top five I would include AK as well.

I definitely agree with this, I just try not to let Texan's know.

I'm more amazed at home many flags are some shade of blue with some kind of seal or logo in the middle.

Yeah when I looked at all of the state flags (sorry krisb I know this is about city flags), I was amazed how BAD some of them are.

You gotta throw California's in there near the top, not really a fan of words on a flag but their's is awesome.

I wonder what it would look like with the light blue instead of the dark? It may washout the tree as is.

I think a lot of Oklahoma flags actually end up a bit too light with the blue. The color by law is Pantone PMS 285c, which according to the swap would be this (which I'm sure will look different on all our screens:

http://blog-imgs-24.fc2.com/d/a/i/dailydisplay/285c.jpg

I would be okay with the colors on the tifo though, green for grass and blue for sky and tying it to the State flag.

Or green for the grass and blue for the flood waters.

As promised. I came up with this a couple of years ago. I used more colors than recommended in the video but they all came from the standard color pallet and have meaning. Most of the colors have multiple meanings and the flag as whole can mean different things to different people. The smaller triangle version could be hung on poles around downtown. The 5 color bar would be much smaller insignia on uniforms (police, fire, etc), kind of like military service ribbons. The red and blue would be the same colors as in the City seal.

White: Weather, heaven, spirituality, pureness, honesty
Blue: Open skies, aviation industry
Green: The land run, agriculture, spirit of the open west
Red: Indigenous population, relocated tribes, soil, earth
Black: Oil, energy industry, mineral resources

http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x378/KerryinJax/OKC%20Stuff/OKC%20Flag_zpsftjta9sx.jpg (http://s1178.photobucket.com/user/KerryinJax/media/OKC%20Stuff/OKC%20Flag_zpsftjta9sx.jpg.html)

Nice scheme.

Kerry, That's actually a very nice job. Since we are a city that can be identified with three letters, and that's become more accepted ( for example, I hear network morning weather anchors use it all the time), how could "OKC" be worked into your design? I like how the flags with the city names can be sharp looking but instantly identifiable with the city. Dallas is a good example, but it looks a little dated with the official seal versus something forward looking. What do you think about the OKC idea? Here's a couple I like that actually have the names of the city incorporated in the logo.

http://i.imgur.com/lWM1y56.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/HGc8gqJ.jpg

Here's one I came up with:
http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/general-civic-issues/10875d1432984869-city-flag-okc-flag-2.jpg
The dark red diagonal represents the Cross Timbers that traverses across the metro. The diagonal then dictates a weaving pattern across the flag representing community, togetherness, close-knit. The pattern is also representative of Native America; patterns used in basketry, pottery, jewelry, clothing, etc. Within the pattern are four triangles, a significant number in Native culture (a significant number in general, IMO); north, south, east, west; up, down, left, right; the four seasons; the four times of day; the four stages of life; the four elements.

I don't think I'm feeling the color scheme quite yet, or if the letters "OKC" would look good across the flag.

As promised. I came up with this a couple of years ago. I used more colors than recommended in the video but they all came from the standard color pallet and have meaning. Most of the colors have multiple meanings and the flag as whole can mean different things to different people. The smaller triangle version could be hung on poles around downtown. The 5 color bar would be much smaller insignia on uniforms (police, fire, etc), kind of like military service ribbons. The red and blue would be the same colors as in the City seal.

White: Weather, heaven, spirituality, pureness, honesty
Blue: Open skies, aviation industry
Green: The land run, agriculture, spirit of the open west
Red: Indigenous population, relocated tribes, soil, earth
Black: Oil, energy industry, mineral resources

http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x378/KerryinJax/OKC%20Stuff/OKC%20Flag_zpsftjta9sx.jpg (http://s1178.photobucket.com/user/KerryinJax/media/OKC%20Stuff/OKC%20Flag_zpsftjta9sx.jpg.html)

This is really simple and I actually kind of like it. I feel like you could maybe get rid of the white though and still get the point across. Just a thought.

I'll work up another version tonight. I have sime ideas based on the feedback.

I moved the white to a horizontal bar because the characteristics it represents does/should transcend the other symbolic colors. I am also thinking of putting a star in the white bar to signify that we are the state capitol. On edit - scratch the star, it makes it look too busy.

http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x378/KerryinJax/OKC%20Stuff/FLAG2_zpse075c6ag.png (http://s1178.photobucket.com/user/KerryinJax/media/OKC%20Stuff/FLAG2_zpse075c6ag.png.html)

I never really cared for multi-color horizontal/vertical bar flags because there are a ton of them already just at the country level, no one outside of the city will ever recognize them (granted few city's are recognizable already)

Are these outside the box enough for you?

http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x378/KerryinJax/OKC%20Stuff/FLAG4_zpsokywqx91.png (http://s1178.photobucket.com/user/KerryinJax/media/OKC%20Stuff/FLAG4_zpsokywqx91.png.html)

http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x378/KerryinJax/OKC%20Stuff/FLAG5_zpspt2uydj3.png (http://s1178.photobucket.com/user/KerryinJax/media/OKC%20Stuff/FLAG5_zpspt2uydj3.png.html)

10877 Four basic elements, four basic colors. Simplicity.

Well im so relieved that some douchebag created an entire website that tells everyone how dumb their flags are with no regard to what they actually mean to people. Let's all bow to this amazing insightful person and their skills with Microsoft paint.

Well im so relieved that some douchebag created an entire website that tells everyone how dumb their flags are with no regard to what they actually mean to people. Let's all bow to this amazing insightful person and their skills with Microsoft paint.

http://s21.postimg.org/63ek8inbr/escalated_quickly.jpg

Ummm, what just happened?

guess somebody really didn't like the 'your state flag stinks' website. -M

I'd change the tree to the Light blue of the state flag and think it would be a win.

This is just me, but I wouldn't put the survivor tree on the City flag. OKC is not defined by the bombing, the bombing was defined by the people of OKC. OKC is bigger than any one event (except maybe the founding of the City itself).

guess somebody really didn't like the 'your state flag stinks' website. -M

Okay, I see now. He was referring to the link at the top of page. Well, any time you have to write the name on the symbol of what the symbol stands for, you lost all the symbolism. That is a fail in my book. To go back to the original TED video, the US flag doesn't say United States of America on it.

I would Agree JTF. and it would really date the flag design. something a bit more timeless for the state would be more appropriate

One thing I think that gets lost in this type of issue is who the audience is. The City flag isn't for the rest of the world's benefit, it is for the people of OKC. People in other cities aren't supposed to get the symbolism intuitively. It's not a projection of what we are saying to the world, it is a representation of what we are saying to ourselves (see Confederate Battle Flag disagreements).

I did not try very hard on this, so don't judge, but what about something like this:

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/general-civic-issues/10885d1433214985-city-flag-screen-capture.png

It is a twist on a very common design for national flags, but it is also an abstract "OKC." In case you don't see it, maybe this will help:

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/general-civic-issues/10886d1433214986-city-flag-screen-capture-1.png

To be clear, the flag would be the top one. I don't love it yet, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyway. The colors could be whatever. I like red since Oklahoma means "red people" and could symbolize our ties to Native American history. I feel like the middle color should symbolize the land run or maybe oil. And then the last color could symbolize our rebirth/growth (hence why I chose green), because of our response to the bombing, all that MAPS has brought us, and the direction we are heading in the future (not just now, but that could always be a perpetual theme).

I like JTF's flag a lot (especially that it can be depicted through the bar-shaped micro flag), though I don't know that I'm convinced the colors look great together. My criticism would be that if the design is supposed to be timeless, I don't necessarily like that some of the colors represent industries (blue for aviation, black for oil). Ideally, we will become more diversified over time, and while those industries are important to our city now, they may not always be.

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/general-civic-issues/10885d1433214985-city-flag-screen-capture.png

I kind of like that. If you don't mind, I would like to play around with it a little bit and try some different color combinations and orientation.

Help yourself. It's just a concept, and I'm sure many people could make it look way better than I did. :)

Okay, I was able to play around with this at lunch today and I came up with some pretty cool variations of your design. I'll post them when I get home from the Dodgers game tonight.

Okay, I was able to play around with this at lunch today and I came up with some pretty cool variations of your design. I'll post them when I get home from the Dodgers game tonight.

JTF,
Glad you have your priorities right! A good night at the ballpark will probably even be "inspiring". Hope it's a good game.
C. T.

If the Dodgers play like last night it will just be a white flag.

This is one sample I came up with based on ShadowString's design. Of course the OKC has already been explained by ShadowString. I used the same angle in the 'K' for the 'C' to give the flag a unique shape. The Star identifies OKC as a seat of government and is divided into 3 sections for City, County, and State levels. The 4 colors in the star represent the 4 pillars of OKC's commerce (Gold - banking and finance, Blue - aviation/air force/faa, Green - agriculture, Black - oil). Finally, the star serves as the hole in the center of the 'O' bar.

http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x378/KerryinJax/OKC%20Stuff/FLAGA_zps7bksh7gj.png (http://s1178.photobucket.com/user/KerryinJax/media/OKC%20Stuff/FLAGA_zps7bksh7gj.png.html)

I took Shadows as idea as well cause I kind of like it and did my own thing. I tried to mesh the color scheme of JTF's original flag which I also thought could work as well as his idea of the star.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii122/zuplar/CityFlag1_zps2nxfouxz.jpg (http://s263.photobucket.com/user/zuplar/media/CityFlag1_zps2nxfouxz.jpg.html)