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La Quinta, California

image by Rob Raeside, 13 December 2004
Source: www.la-quinta.org/cityclerk/index.htm

Flag Description
Seal

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Flag Description

The city seal on a white field. Actual dimensions of the seal are unknown.

The Seal of the City of La Quinta

The city seal of La Quinta, California, does not appear on the Home Page of the municipal Web Site, but on the City Clerk's Page. It is extremely colorful and very unusual in composition, although the shape is that of the standard circular format. The color scheme is quite remarkable - the outer ring is a greenish gold. At the top of this outer circle are the words 'CITY OF' and 'CALIFORNIA' in black block letters, separated by the words 'La Quinta' in black script letters, the top and bottom of the city name extending both above and below the outer circle. At each flank are stylized flowers in black, and at the bottom of the outer circle the municipal motto 'THE GEM OF THE DESERT' is likewise written in black block letters.

The central image features a solar disk in the center, colored in the same fashion as the outer circle. Above the disk are a series of four semicircles colored from top to bottom blue, pale blue, ultramarine, and white respectively. The solar disk rises above a range of lilac-pink mountains, which act as a fess dividing the central image horizontally. Beneath these mountains are a series of blue-green, black, and white lines, which suggest the stylized surface of a body of water. Beneath this body of water is another mountain range in blue-green, with two palm trees having brown trunks with dark green crowns in the right foreground. In the left foreground is a California Quail in brown and black, and at the height of the quail's breast are the words 'INCORPORATED 1942' written in two lines of smaller black block letters.
Ron Lahav, 9 December 2004

I believe the lines beneath the mountains are not supposed to be water, but the shadows of mountains (if this was originally a smaller image, the lines would appear to blend into a dark gray). And the blue-green area below that is not another set of mountains but merely the unshadowed portion of the foreground.

The city code is not very helpful in settling the issue. it merely says:
"1.04.020 Design. The seal adopted in Section 1.04.010 shall be circular in form; shall be not less than two inches in diameter. Around its circumference shall appear the words "City of La Quinta, California," and, within, the words "Incorporated, 1982." (Ord. 2 § 1 (part), 1982)" codemanage.com/laquinta/index.php?topic=1-1_04-1_04_020
Ned Smith, 10 December 2004

A communication from Ms June Greek, the City Clerk of La Quinta, California, provides a description of the La Quinta city flag as well as some details about the municipal seal.

We have a flag which consists of the Seal centered on white with a gold colored fringe border.
The Seal was adopted in 1982 when the City was incorporated (made a municipal corporation). Its symbolism represents the mountains (they enclose our city on both the west and south); the mountains to the south are called the Coral Mountains, those to the west are the Santa Rosa Mountains. The bands of color represent a rainbow and the Quail is a representation of a Gambel's Quail which is the City's adopted bird and is seen everywhere within the City's parks and back yards.
Our Seal was designed by Mr. Fred Rice, an artist who was a long-time resident, (we have a fairly large artist's colony) and we hold an Annual Art Festival which is becoming well known throughout the United States. Mr. Rice worked as a set designer in Hollywood before retiring to La Quinta and was an avid historian.
Finally, our Seal was adopted by the City of La Quinta by a resolution of the City Council.

June S. Greek, City Clerk, 13 December 2004