A garbage truck rumbles down Pearl Road, momentarily drowning out the words of Brian Lachman, who’s sitting outside of Six Shooter Coffee in Old Brooklyn.
But there's a point to prove in the form of the loud vehicle. “Okay, look,” he says, gesturing at the truck, which sports a large Cleveland Browns helmet painted on the white metal side. “In order to show your passion for the city of Cleveland, you’ve got to put a Browns helmet on a truck instead of one unifying symbol that shows your pride.”
That might soon change, thanks to the CLE Flag Project, which Lachman has been co-organizing since May 2023. The group aims to redesign the city’s flag, offering a modern image for the city to embrace.
First inspired by Chicago’s city flag while attending a National Restaurant Association show as a sales representative for food distributor Northern Haserot, Lachman and a few friends got the idea in their heads that Cleveland could use a new flag design, updating the version the city has flown for more than a century.
However, the salesman will tell you right away: “I don’t come from the flag world. I’m not a vexillologist.”
Yet, Lachman noticed a current trend of cities redesigning their flags to more modern symbols, with success. Just in Ohio, Toledo is in the middle of a flag redesign competition with a final flag selection due by early 2025, and in 2021, Dayton debuted a new flag.
The most successful projects, Lachman says, leaned into community involvement. That led the CLE Flag Project team to open up the flag redesign process with the city. After all, what better way to drum up community enthusiasm?
For much of this summer, artists and amateur vexillologists of all types contributed their ideas. Lachman says some were drawn by six-year-olds in crayon and others were designed by seasoned graphic designers.
In total, the CLE Flag Project received 570 submissions, which a committee narrowed down to the top three new flag designs, paired with one more option: Cleveland’s current flag.
Now, it’s up to Cleveland to decide which one could fly high above the city. On Monday, Aug. 12, voting begins. Lachman says voting will be open for at least one month. From there, the winning flag will be presented to Cleveland City Council, which will vote to potentially change an ordinance and officially adopt a new city flag.
Cleveland’s Current Flag
Designed by Susan Hepburn, Cleveland’s flag was originally a contribution to a contest from The Plain Dealer to celebrate the city’s centennial in 1896.
Three words and a number adorn it: The city’s name, the year the city was founded (1796) and the motto “Progress & Prosperity.” It features three stripes (in red, white and blue), a shield outline and a few distinct images: a green laurel wreath; a grouping of an anvil, wheel and hammer; and a grouping of an anchor, oars and a windlass.
Currently, the flag can be seen being used by government organizations, and on police cars and uniforms, Lachman says.
“We’re 130 years later, and we live in a city where I’d say most people don’t know the flag. And if they do, they don’t embrace it,” Lachman says. “I don’t want to say that we have a bad flag. It's just that, at its current state, it’s not effective. For it to be effective, it needs to be embraced and recognized by its community.”
Typically, successful flags are simple, Lachman says — “simple enough that a young kid can draw it off of memory,” he explains.
Intricate details, and especially words, can create problems for flag designs, mainly because of changing winds. “(When it’s flying one way, it’s backwards,” Lachman says, matter-of-factly.)
However, some Clevelanders have supported Cleveland’s current flag, including Hepburn’s great granddaughter, who, Lachman says, has come out in opposition to the redesign project.
For that reason, the CLE Flag Project included Hepburn’s original design in its group of four flags for which to vote. Lachman says that even if the current flag design wins, he wants it to become more prominently embraced in the city.
The Finalists
Ready to vote? First, get some details about the finalists. Lachman shared the symbolism behind each flag design with Cleveland Magazine:
Flag Option 1
- Option #1 is rich in symbolism that reflects Cleveland's history and spirit. The six-pointed star honors Cleveland’s historical nickname, "The Sixth City," and nods to the current city flag’s six symbols representative of Cleveland’s industrial and nautical history. The prominent "C" stands for Cleveland, while the swallowtail-shaped red section honors Ohio’s state flag shape and opens up to the right, signaling the forward progress of our city. The blue field to the right symbolizes Lake Erie, and the blue within the “C” represents the Cuyahoga River, named “Crooked River” by the Native American tribes of our region. The red stripe between the "C" and the blue field signifies Cleveland’s Rust Belt heritage. The overall red, white and blue color scheme pays homage to the original Cleveland flag, as well as the Ohio and U.S. flags.
Flag Option 2
- Option #2 weaves together elements of Cleveland's identity and history. The six-pointed star represents Cleveland’s historical nickname, "The Sixth City," and echoes the six symbols on the original flag, while also organized in such a way as to symbolize the six tuning pegs on a guitar, a nod to Cleveland's rich rock and roll heritage. The blue wavy line represents the Cuyahoga River, named by Native American tribes in our region to mean "Crooked River." The green flanking the sides of the blue wavy line pays homage to Cleveland’s nickname, "The Forest City." The white lines in the center stand for civic virtue, tying together the city's past, present and enduring spirit.
Flag Option 3
- Option #3 captures the essence of Cleveland through thoughtful symbolism. The six-pointed star signifies Cleveland’s historical nickname, "The Sixth City," and honors the original flag’s six symbols of industrial and nautical themes. The blue section at the top represents Lake Erie to the north of the city, and the green portion at the bottom symbolizes Cleveland’s nickname, "The Forest City" and celebrates Cleveland’s Metroparks system. The white line represents the city's shoreline and includes a wave crest pointed to the right, representing our city’s forward progress. The circle encircling the star pays tribute to the Ohio flag, connecting Cleveland to its state heritage
Current City Flag
- The current flag of the city contains three vertical stripes in red, white and blue, which symbolize American patriotism. At the center of the white stripe is a shield, outlined in red and blue, bearing the city's name, "Cleveland," and the founding year, 1796, encircled by a laurel wreath. The shield's upper left corner features an anvil, hammer and wheel, representing the city's industrial heritage, and the upper right corner displays an anchor, windlass and oars, highlighting Cleveland's role as a commercial port on the Great Lakes. Below the shield, the words "Progress and Prosperity" were added later on, reflecting the city’s motto.
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