Title
RESOLUTION TO ADOPT AN UPDATED CITY FLAG.
Body
CITY PROPOSAL:
WHEREAS, well designed municipal flags represent an opportunity to unite a community and contribute to a strong sense of civic pride.
WHEREAS, the Duluth Flag Project was originally identified in the recently adopted comprehensive plan, Imagine Duluth 2035, as a transformative opportunity to be implemented to benefit the city of Duluth with long-term change.
WHEREAS, inclusivity and respectful representation were driving forces in the project’s creation and throughout the decision making process to create a new flag.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the city of Duluth does hereby adopt the flag described and depicted as Attachment 1 as the new official flag of the city of Duluth.
Statement of Purpose
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: The purpose of this resolution is to adopt a new city flag. The flag design was chosen through a community led process called the Duluth Flag Project, an action step of the adopted Imagine Duluth 2035 Comprehensive Plan (see Chapter 13, page TO-16). The Duluth Flag project began with a flag design contest where 98 different local and international participants entered a total of 195 flag designs in hopes of one of them becoming the new flag for the city of Duluth. A Mayoral appointed ad hoc committee, called the Flag Committee, was assembled to help narrow down the submitted designs. Using committee member expertise and in consideration of public comments, nine flags were chosen from the contest as finalists. Those finalists were brought to the public to be ranked through an online survey and at paper voting stations at the public libraries. To complete the process, the Flag Committee and Mayor completed a review of all of the public rankings and comments to inform their decision on the new flag.
The idea to design a new city flag was brought forward during the Imagine Duluth 2035 community engagement process. It was evident that members of the public did not know the City had a flag but also that they did not recognize the current flag as an inclusive symbol for all Duluthians. Community members were able to participate in this opportunity to design a new flag with intentionality and as part of a community-driven process. Through implementation of this comprehensive plan action step, the new City flag is intended to foster a strong sense of civic pride and community togetherness that is a symbol for all Duluthians.
Duluth Flag Design Statement:
The colors found in this flag represent the clear blue of the sky, refreshing water of Lake Superior, deep green of the north woods, and snowy winters.
The design acknowledges the ancestral and contemporary presence of the Anishinaabeg - and many other Tribal Nations - who have called this community, Misaabekong (“the place of the giants”), home for millennia. The design symbolizes the rolling water of Onigamiising (“the place of the small portage”) where the water meets and where people have always gathered to meet. Together, we call this gathering place: Duluth. Our home.
The design symbolizes Duluth's hills and designates some of the area's most prominent topographical features: Thompson Hill, Enger Hill, and Hawk's Ridge. Polaris, the North Star, is perched above the city. The star symbolizes the Zenith City of the North, a leader of the northern sky and center of all good things.