Hang tight. We’re analyzing feedback from 743 respondents of the designs below in order to present you with further refined designs.
The City received 160 entries from the public. Each design was reviewed for adherence to the Guiding Principles of Flag Design. After further evaluation, ten designs have been selected for public review. We are now asking the public to provide thoughts and comments on the design elements of each flag. This is not a final selection, but will assist in further refining the design of a new city flag.
SURVEY CLOSED
To commemorate North Charleston’s 50th anniversary, the city is asking for your help to design a new city flag. Today, the city’s flag is a “seal on a sheet,” with the city’s official seal placed over a solid background. This flag is similar to thousands of city flags throughout the country, and violates the basic principles of flag design as set forth by the North American Vexillological Association.
We aim to create a beautiful flag that represents North Charleston as a community. Help us design a flag that incorporates ideas, themes, and symbols that uniquely define North Charleston. All designs, ideas and input are welcome from residents and others invested in our community. Your design should follow the principles of flag design with the understanding of a flag created by and for the community, one that the resulting flag will be an appealing and unifying symbol of our city. We appreciate your creativity in this very important and exciting project!
Why city flags may be the worst-designed thing you’ve never noticed
Current City Flag
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What’s wrong?
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Guiding Principles
Designs for the new North Charleston flag should follow the five basic principles of good flag design published by the North American Vexillological Association:
- Keep It Simple: A flag should be so simple it can be drawn from memory, and can be clearly observed on a 3×5 notecard from across a large room.
- Use Meaningful Symbolism: A flag’s images, colors, or patterns should relate to what it symbolizes.
- 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.
- No Lettering or Seals: Never use writing of any kind or an organization’s seal.
- Be Distinctive or Related: Avoid duplicating other flags, but you can use similarities to show connections.
Examples of Good Flag Design
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ColorsColors should reflect a region and represent or convey emotion. Portland, Oregon’s flag has green for forest, blue for rivers and yellow for wheat. |
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ShapesShapes such as stars and stripes are very common in flag design. Chicago, IL’s flag has blue stripes that represent water and waters that represent key events in the city’s history |
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SymbolsSymbols can be anything related to a city. Keep it simple and easy to recognize. Phoenix, AZ’s flag has a phoenix at the center. |
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Geographical featuresLawrence, Massachusetts’ flag has white stripes to represent the Spicket, Merrimack and Shawsheen Rivers and their respective courses. |
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HistoryThe Denver, Colorado flag has a centered circle representing the city’s central location in the state. Red represents the color of the earth, yellow the gold in the hills, and the white zigzag, the state’s Native American heritage. |
Submit a Design
- Sketch or design an idea, 6″x4″ utilizing the 5 basic flag design guidelines
- Email ideas, including your name and a description to [email protected]
- Deadline for submissions is March 17
By participating in this process and submitting designs, you are donating concepts to the City of North Charleston. Because this is a community wide collaboration of ideas, individual designers may not receive public credit for any final designs. All designs are subject to changes/modifications. No concepts will be copyrighted and the final City of North Charleston flag will be open for public use.
Questions?
Questions may be directed to [email protected].