Museum of Boulder unveils winner of unofficial city flag contest after nearly 200 submissions
The Museum of Boulder has announced the winner of its unofficial Boulder flag design contest.
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The winning design is a refined version of Michael Stuart Trimmer’s “Flatiron Sunrise Flourish,” updated by the museum’s contest panel in collaboration with flag scholars from the North American Vexillological Association, or NAVA.
“I am beyond honored,” Trimmer said, attending the reception virtually from Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom. “It was so fascinating to learn about your wonderful city, and I just really, really enjoyed the process. It’s such a great thing to be a part of.”
In its final version, the original five colors were trimmed down to three. The star was also removed, as reviewers thought the symbol would remind viewers of Texas. In his submission, Trimmer described the rightward-rising diagonal lines as exploding.
Other contest awards included funniest design, “I See Something Else…,” best young vexilologist, best elementary school design, best amateur design, best iconoclast and “Only a True Boulderite.”
A people’s choice award was given to Guillermo Tirado’s design after it won Boulder Reporting Lab’s informal online poll. More than 2,100 readers participated in the vote, with Tirado emerging as the clear favorite among BRL readers.
Museum panelists said the final winning design stood out for its simplicity, distinctiveness and unconventional approach.
“I think that’s really a testimony to the innovative, dynamic city that we all live in,” said review panelist Bob Morehouse, founder of Boulder-based communications firm Vermilion.
In conversations with NAVA, Morehouse said, Boulder was viewed as an unconventional city that could embrace a less traditional flag design.
Morehouse said Boulder’s idiosyncratic spirit is captured in the flag’s diagonal lines emerging from a single point rather than the horizontal or vertical patterns common in many flags.
Panelist Katie McKenna Daniels, a branding expert and founder of a design firm, echoed that view.
“It becomes really difficult to be symbolic and simple in few colors and be distinctive,” she said. “And I think this flag achieved that.”
Danny Rankin, an associate teaching professor at CU Boulder with expertise in graphic design, also served on the review panel. He emphasized the flag’s memorability and simplicity.
“There’s a three thing, it’s a diagonal top to bottom, and you split the top half and you pretty much got a flag you can basically recreate,” Rankin said.
The museum will award Trimmer $500, with flag merchandise expected to launch Memorial Day weekend. The new design will succeed Boulder’s previous unofficial flag, created in the 1980s with white and green bands, a seal of the Flatirons and the city’s name.
The contest was first proposed by museum director Christopher Taylor, who said he noticed that Boulder residents regularly fly flags representing the U.S., Colorado and CU Boulder but lacked a recognizable symbol for the city itself.
Taylor initially worried the contest would struggle to attract attention because entries trickled in slowly at first. But eventually, the museum received nearly 200 submissions. At least one submission from every participant is currently on display at the museum.
The contest was organized by the museum’s director of education, Emily Zinn. All submissions went through a blind review process in which panelists independently selected their favorites. The longlist included 50 designs before it was narrowed to the 10 finalists announced last week.
“What is a museum’s purpose if not to inspire civic dialogue and have us think critically about our community?” Zinn said at the reception.
She said she hoped the contest would encourage conversations about Boulder’s identity and history, including the aspects of the city residents love, those that frustrate them and how to represent those ideas visually.
“This was a really fun way to bring the community together and to think about what makes common identity,” said Deputy City Manager Chris Meschuck, who also served on the review panel. “It was so hard to pick a final winner.”
Ethan Thomasset, a 10th grade student and self-identified flag enthusiast, won the award for best amateur design.
His interest in flags began with geography and evolved into an appreciation for how simple designs can symbolize people and places.
“I made a few designs with a lot more colors, and I knew I wanted the Flatirons design in the background,” Thomasset said. “So I created this design as a starting point.”
See images of some of the winning designs below.
People’s choice award
Best elementary school design
Best young vexillologist design
Funniest design
“I see…something else” award
Best iconoclast award
“Only a true Boulderite” award
Incorporating Arapahoe names award
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