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Salt Lake City, Utah (U.S.)

image located by Valentin Poposki, 24 August 2007

Description of the flag
Contest for the new flag

See also:

Description of the Flag

The flag shows the city skyline in front of the Wasatch Mountains against a green and blue background. It was adopted by the City Council on 3 October 2006, when a vote of 4-2 in favor of a new city flag was taken.

Contest for the new flag

Salt Lake City's mayor wanted a new flag for the city and he wanted help designing it. The previous flag had flown above the city for more than 40 years. Mayor Rocky Anderson said it was time for a change, so the city held a design contest for a new flag. The top three proposals for the new flag of the City of Salt Lake were posted at deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600109738,00.html, but none were chosen. On 11 July 2006, a staff report the Council Committee re: new flag design reported "Following discussions regarding adopting a new City flag, the Council nominated a subcommittee to work with the Administration on this project. Council Members Christensen, Turner and Love have met with representatives of the Mayor’s Office and have agreed upon a design to present to the full Council for consideration."
Kristian Söderberg and Valentin Poposki

The new flag was described first by Deseret News reported on 7 October. Further details were given in Brigham Young University Newsnet, 16 October 2006:

"The new flag is blue and green and shows a simplified city skyline with a stylized illustration of the Wasatch Mountains as a backdrop. The words "Salt Lake City" are stitched below the skyline. Sam Guevara, chief of staff in the office of Mayor Rocky Anderson, said in an e-mail, "The final design was a combined effort of the mayor's office and the city council."

The old flag featured an illustration of pioneers, seagulls and an ox-drawn wagon, all centered on a largely white backdrop. Some officials were concerned that the previous design looked too plain when there was no wind, said Gary Mumford, deputy director of the Executive Council and senior legislative auditor. He said it often looked like a "white flag of surrender." The International Society of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, a group devoted to preserving and remembering Utah's pioneer heritage, voted to support the new design. Mary Johnson, the society's president, said the old flag "was too busy and the [new] one would show our purpose without all the busyness in it."

Johnson said the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers could tolerate the removal of historical elements from the city flag as long as the state flag remained intact and continued to reflect the state's unique history.[...]The Salt Lake City Council voted 4-2 to adopt the new city flag, which was designed by a committee of council members. The city council rejected the winning design from a 2004 contest. According to a city council staff report, 77 percent of respondents to an Internet survey last August favored the new city flag design.

Ivan Sache, 18 October 2006

Former flag

located by Valentin Poposki, 8 April 2006

A white flag with pioneer scene showing a covered wagon before a sunrise, with pioneering figures on the sides, and two seagulls above. The name is written in white letters on a blue ribbon.

The image was obtained from the website at www.slcgov.com/info/area_info/salt_lake_city.htm, where the central part of the flag only is shown. Dimensions are unknown.
Olivier Touzeau, 3 May 2002