Of course, we’re all familiar with South Carolina’s state flag – that palmetto tree and crescent moon (or, is it?) hangs in front of houses, is plastered all over t-shirts + car windows, and is even tattooed on people’s bodies.

But what about our city flag?

While the design of state flags are typically pretty broad and non-controversial in representing the state’s history, the design of city flags are much more specific in what they represent.

Columbia’s city flag – that only flies at a few places around the city, like City Hall and the main fire station – was officially adopted in 1912, 58 years after becoming a city. The design was created by first-grade teacher Kate Manning, who entered the contest put together by The State newspaper – with a reward of $100 ($75 from The State and an additional $25 from Columbia City Council).

The dark blue color is the same blue of the state flag, featuring a seal – which says “City of Columbia, S.C.” on the top and “Justia Virtutum Regina” (Justice, the Queen of Virtues) on the bottom. Surrounding the seal is a corn stalk on the left, and cotton on the right – the largest crops in S.C. during that time period.

Working towards a flag that better represents Columbia in present day

In January 2017, One Columbia and the Columbia Design League created an open design competition for a new city flag. The competition resulted in 544 design submissions, and 18 designs were chosen as finalists with help from expert vexillologists (i.e. people who study flags). The public was then invited to vote on their favorite design, but almost two years later we still have corn and cotton…

This month, Columbia Design League, in partnership with the Columbia City Council and Mayor Steve Benjamin announced a new extended process to adopt a new city flag. In an effort to get designs that more accurately reflect Columbia’s history + spirit, five designers – selected by an expert, public and jury review process – have been chosen and given six weeks to come up with a new design based on updated guidelines. The new submissions will then be presented to Mayor Benjamin and City Council (for a blind review) and they will make the final decision on which flag will be adopted as an updated City of Columbia flag.

What do the new design guidelines consist of?

Incorporation of wings | Wings were represented as part of the city’s “rise from the ashes” following the burning of the city in February 1865.
Colors and/or symbols that represent contemporary Columbia and the diversity of people that live and work in the city
Optional: symbols, shapes or colors that signify other key identifiers of the City of Columbia

May the best designer win; good luck. We’ll report back when the winning design is announced.

Poll

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