Park Ridge Flag

A flag is a gateway to a city. It is a symbol of the uniqueness, and strengths that make you a proud citizen. I find that flags are incredibly important and should be taken seriously. Some flags are great(Chicago), some flags are bad(Milwaukee). Nevertheless, a good flag shows strength and importance of a city. As mentioned in TED Talk, “every great city deserves a great flag.” Now, there are five  rules or guidelines to flags,  according to the North American Vexillological Association.

1. Keep it Simple- the flag should be simple enough for a child to draw it. (Kids from Milwaukee have suffered long enough).
2. Use Meaningful Symbols- use symbols that relate to your city or town and signify its relevance or importance. Every detail should be taken into consideration.
3. Use Two to Three Basic Colors- Don’t get too fancy, choose basic colors that are relevant.
4. No Lettering or Seals-  This quote says it all: “Here’s the thing about municipal seals, they were designed to be on pieces of paper, where you can read them. Not on flags 100 feet away, flapping in the breeze.”
5. Be Distinctive- Nothing to detailed or confusing. Make your flag unique.

With these guidelines flags can reach their full potentials and represent their cities the best they can. Chicago’s flag does a great job with this as it follows these 5 guidelines and truly makes an impression. I even have it hanging up in my dorm not just because I am from there but because it is a great flag.

This is the flag of Park Ridge which is my home town and a suburb of Chicago.

Features of the Flag:

Golden Band: Symbolizes the ridge, which is a geographical and topographical characteristic captured in the name of the city. It also commemorates the Golden Anniversary year, 1960.

Deep Blue Field Bisected by a Torch: Symbolizes the highest standards of education at all levels and ages.

Three Stars: Symbolizes the three stages in the cities history:Pennyville, Brickton, and Park Ridge

Big Star: Stands for unity and strength of the present city.

Two Red Stripes: Complete the national colors and symbolize devotion to the United States and the State of Illinois.

I believe that this flag has some quality features, but still has room for improvement. This is what I put together.

As you can see, I still kept all of the symbolic features of the flag put just refined them a little. Instead of gold bands I made it into an actual ridge. This is more symbolic at it resembles a mountain and how our town is at the peak.  I centered the torch and made it the main symbol of the flag as it represent the city the best. I still kept the red, white and blue features as it  commemorates the state of Illinois and our nation. As for the stars I decided to have the three smaller stars circle around the larger one as it symbolizes how are history revolves around the point that the town is united and strong. Focusing on the five guidelines for the flag, I believe that this one follows those much better.

1. Simplicity- The flag is quite simple and easy to follow.
2. Use Meaningful Symbols- All of the meaningful symbols from the old flag were kept and even improved. The gold mountain represents that we the city is at the peak. The red, white, and blue honor our nation and the State of Illinois. The torch represents power. Lastly, the stars represent our morals and history.
3. Use Two to Three Basic Colors- While there are technically four colors in this flag, there are three colors that really stand out.
4. No Lettering or Seals: I removed the words City of Park Ridge, as it contradicts the symbolism.
5. Be Distinctive: There is a lot of uniqueness in the flag, and certainly symbolizes the City of Park Ridge, even without the name.