A symbol for our city.
Be a part of the creation of a city flag for Evansville
XDue to the ongoing impact of COVID-19, we have adjusted the timeline and methods of gathering for the Evansville Flag Project to accommodate the health and safety of the general public and our committee. Flag Day will be August 12, 2021, and the submission deadline for designs has been extended to March 27, 2021. Please join us on Facebook for further updates and information on our upcoming virtual and pop-up visioning sessions. In the meantime, please keep sending us your flag ideas - we look forward to celebrating together as a community throughout the coming year!
There’s no place like home.
Vote NOW for our flag. Voting closes July 1, 2021.
If you’ve grown up in Evansville, or if you’re a transplant who’s been here a long time, you know there’s a certain way of life about our city. There’s something about living in a city on the water, where around one turn you’re apt to find miles and miles of lush cornfields, and another turn leads to centuries-old historic mansions. The town’s traditions and celebrations also make it hard for anywhere else to ever feel quite like “home.”
Jordan Baer knows this feeling. He’s spent most of his adult life advocating for and helping to improve Evansville.
Still, he felt Evansville was missing a link that unified the entire community while simultaneously paying homage to the city’s rich culture and history. Not to mention, the area has been inhabited by indigenous cultures for millenia. How many people can say they live in a city that was once home to a thriving community of Native Americans?
Later a town that thrived industrially and commercially, Evansville has never lost its ethos for invention, creativity, charm and of course, innovation.
A city flag is something that represents our town - that isn’t political. It isn’t a slogan, or a brand, but a timeless symbol that captures the essence of Evansville. Globally, other cities and countries have timeless symbols that represent the spirit of their city, community involvement, and unity. Why shouldn’t we be amongst them?
Capturing the flag
In 2015, Jordan began planning a city flag initiative, emphasizing the importance of having a symbol to unify the region, to bring everyone together and to represent our history, present, and future.
Then, a year and a half later, this video surfaced:
He was onto something! Other cities were doing this too. And Evansville deserved to be thought about on a global level as well.
A picture is worth a thousand words … and thoughts and emotions and memories and places.
Don’t overthink this, but don’t hold back!
Draw or write your interpretation of Evansville and what it symbolizes to YOU.
Download Good Flag Bad Flag from The North American Vexillological Association for tips on what makes a good and bad flag design.
Red might represent pain and anger, but it also represents love and health. It might remind you of the sun setting on the Ohio River, the trees dotting the roads and highways during the fall or the brick streets in downtown and historic Evansville.
Think about the other colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Green, and Purple. Don’t forget about Black, White, Grey, and Brown. They’re colors too!
Time to vote!
Submit your vote by
July 1, 2021
A city flag is something that represents our community - our flag will be a timeless symbol that captures the essence of Evansville. The voting process will follow a rated choice voting system. You will have four individual flags to rate.
Selection Process
A committee was chosen to represent a diverse cross-section of our community.
All entries, both written and visual, will be printed and presented to a selection committee. This committee will carefully review each submission and determine the most important themes based on your entries.
Meet the Committee
Autumn York
Design Committee Member,
Freelance Graphic Designer
Carlos Caballero
Medical Services of America
Hospice Worker
Marshallese Advocate
Corderro Stith
Design Committee Member,
ArtIsLife Studios, LLC
Dalton Boszé
Department of Metropolitan Development - Community Development Specialist
DeAndre Wilson
Turn Table LLC
Keep Rolling Campaign
Erin Phillips
Professional intern, USI class of 2018, LGBTQ Activist, They/Them Pronouns
Faith Connell
Design Committee Member
EVPL Visual Design Specialist
Hope Wells
Administrative Assistant at Alpha Laser & Imaging
Jack Maxwell
Manager of Community Job Link with the Arc of Evansville
Jason McCord
West Side Nut Club, Director of One Life Church West
JoElle Knight
Chairwoman of the Vanderburgh County Bicentennial Celebration
Jonathan Barrera
Design Committee Member,
JBGraphics, LLC
Jordan Baer
Founder Evansville Flag Project
Kaman Hillenburg
Collections Manager at the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science
Larry Samples
United Neighborhoods of Evansville
Leonard Collins
United Neighborhoods of Evansville
Merrick Korach
Community Advocate
Michael Harbison
United Neighborhoods of Evansville
Nolan Eickhoff
Design Committee Member,
North American Vexillological Association
Roli Lall
Project Manager at Astra Zeneca
Stefanie Fleming
Owner of Stef L's Amour
Summer El-Khodary
The University of Evansville, Class of 2020, Founder of Cultural Communications, Inc.
Todd Mahooty
ONB Retirement Plan Services, Brescia University Board, Native American Advocate
The design process
There is an actual art and science to flag design, according to the standards of Vexillology. Vexillology is the scientific study of the history, symbolism and usage of flags. There are rules regarding the designing of flags that a successful one must abide, and having a city seal on a cloth violates nearly every principle of Vexillology. City seals were meant to be read at close range, on paper documents. For this reason, they contain a high level of detail and pictorial imagery. This is the opposite of what is necessary for a flag. What Evansville has, instead of a real flag, is our city seal, printed on a large cloth that is a stand-in for a flag. Evansville has never designed a flag for itself. Many cities across the country have real city flags, see Portland (1969), Chicago (1917), Indianapolis (1963) for examples of great city flags, and increasingly, many more cities are either re-deigning their poorly made flags or creating them where none previously existed. A flag should be neither historical or modern, it should be a timeless visual representative of the city for which it is created. It should feel as if it has always been here, and will be woven into the fabric of our community over time. It is something that when done right, will never change, and become a symbol for our city.
The committee will entrust these submissions to a separate committee of 5 professional Evansville designers through the Evansville Design Group. The Evansville Design Group is a not-for-profit organization formed to promote awareness, education, networking, and enrichment within and among the local design community. Each designer will have studied vexillology and flag design and will work together to produce a series of flags to the specifications of vexillology based on your submissions.
Vexillology
Vexi - WHAT?! Vexillology.
Pronounced: vex-ah-lahl-lo-gee
It’s the study of the history, symbolism, and usage of flags. And, yes, it’s a real thing.
Back at ya, Evansville
The designers will share their final designs with the selection committee who originally chose the emergent concepts from the collection of submissions. They will select the best designs based on the public’s original input, and present them back to the community via this website.
Vote now, or forever hold your peace.
The voting process will follow a ranked choice voting system. You’ll get to rank your favorite designs in order of preference.
This matters. A lot. It’s the city we all live, work and play in. And you, the people, have all the input. So weigh in. Comment. Share. Discuss. Start a dialogue. Vote.
This flag will be around forever. We want it to look good to all of us.