Flag Redesign

A Great City Deserves a Great Flag

When I tell people I am thinking about redesgining the flag for Orlando, without fail I hear astonishment, not about the audacity of it, but specifcially about the “re-“ in re-designing. Long-time Orlando citizens have no idea that we have a flag right now.

No one is proud of this

We do.

Regular citizens don’t know we have a flag because no one flys it. It’s obsure because it’s ugly and people who do know about it, don’t like it enough to show it off

Sure, it’s ugly and dated and has no personality. Subjectivity aside, there are some criteria already for what makes a good flag.

The Five Basic Rules for Flag Design

The North American Vexillological Association published a list of five criteria that flag designers should try to adhere to.

Undistictive design requires a label, but labels are always illegible.
  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 to 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

Orlando’s flag fails every one.

One of the only places you’ll find Orlando’s flag is in the wild, is at an intersection right next to the Chamber of Commerce. That’s the kind of personality this flag has. It’s only embraced by a Chamber of Commerce.

Orlando is pretty great. We deserve better than this.

Proposals

Code?

Go to Code for Orlando’s “flags” repo to see other cities’ and counties’ flags nearby, and start to design your own.

Get this web page by cloning git@github.com:cforlando/flags.git and then checkout gh-pages. Add pages and push back.