Municipal Flag Design Preferences of United States Residents

Abstract

ABSTRACT Contemporary place branding practices face occasional pushback in the form of public rejection of the identity elements deployed as part of the brand. In United States municipalities, one important symbol – and one increasingly contested – is the city flag. The flag occupies a unique space outside the core group of identity elements that commonly form the iconography of a place brand and flag design or redesign efforts can be particularly emotive. Using a mixed methods approach, this study sought to identify trends in public preferences for civic flag design in the United States. Its findings reinforce the popular appeal of traditional practices in flag design, such as textless flags and simple composition, while outlining possible perils associated with market-oriented designs single-mindedly driven by a city’s external concerns. These findings will be useful to the civic marketer as a grounding point from which a meaningful public discussion on the design, redesign, or retention of a city flag can be initiated.