After spreading the word, tallying 11,000 votes and working with local businesses and residents, the CLE Flag Project finally unveiled its winning flag design for the city: a red, white and blue rectangle featuring a prominent C, a six-pointed star and an angular point inward.
On Friday, the flag went live, flying from more than 200 locations around the region. Project co-organizer Brian Lachman says you’ll likely see it on flag poles, awnings and inside bars. Notably, it will be strung across West 25th Street in Ohio City, and also hanging from the May Building Downtown.
Importantly, the design is an unofficial flag for the city; Lachman calls it the People’s Flag of Cleveland, similar to the People’s Flag of Milwaukee. In order for it to be adopted as the city’s official new flag, the Cleveland City Council would need to vote it in. Lachman hopes for that to happen in the future.
“I'd say that City Council, first and foremost, doesn't want to offend anybody or frustrate anybody,” Lachman says. “If it is embraced by the community, it's easier to go back to city council in the future, with the community that is engaged and embracing it. Then it's easier to pass along.”
SUGGESTED: Cleveland’s Canine Hero: Celebrating 100 Years of Balto’s Legacy
For now, the People's Flag of Cleveland will not replace the city’s existing 130-year-old flag designed by Susan Hepburn, which features words (“Cleveland” and “Progress & Prosperity”), the year the city was founded (1796) and a few symbols.
Instead, it provides another option for people to embrace. Unlike Cleveland's existing city flag, the People’s Flag of Cleveland has a simpler design, leaning into the red, white and blue colors featured in the flags for both Ohio and the United States.
The CLE Flag Project helped to usher along the new flag selection but didn’t profit from the process. According to Lachman, funds previously raised for the project went directly into hosting events to get submissions and votes.
If you're looking for a People's Flag of Cleveland, flags and apparel will be printed by Flags for Good and GV Art + Design, which will both donate a portion of the proceeds to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.
“This is really about the community,” Lachman says. “Just doing something cool for the community that I grew up in, and hopefully having something that people can really appreciate, and have as their symbol of their pride for their city.”
RELATED: Cleveland Might Get a New Flag, and You Can Vote On It
Over the past year-and-a-half, Lachman and other CLE Flag Project organizers put together the flag design process (which received 570 submissions) and selected a committee to narrow options down to the top three new flag designs, along with Cleveland’s existing flag, for a public vote.
Of the four options, the red, white and blue design was ranked the highest, with a final rating of 6.8 out of 10, compared to the other three designs, which ranged in the fours. Results were pretty unanimous, as 73% of respondents also said they would like to see a new flag in Cleveland.
Now, we have one — albeit an unofficial one: The People’s Flag of Cleveland.
SUGGESTED: Behind the Gen-Z Makeover of the Goodyear Blimp’s Social Media
For more updates about Cleveland, sign up for our Cleveland Magazine Daily newsletter, delivered to your inbox six times a week.
Cleveland Magazine is also available in print, publishing 12 times a year with immersive features, helpful guides and beautiful photography and design.
