After a citywide competition, former Ald. Fred Steffan, a member of the city’s art commission, compiled “the best elements” of the flag designs submitted into a municipal hodgepodge. To wit, the mashup included City Hall, County Stadium, the Milwaukee Arena (aka MECCA Arena, aka UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena), a Native American, a house, a church (which might just be an illegal endorsement of religion) and barley (which almost definitely is not illegal but might be mistaken by some for a menorah).
To say that the flag has never been well-received would be an understatement. A 2001 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article details the plight of Lee Tishler, a Milwaukee Public Museum employee who came close to replacing the original design with his own, the victor in another citywide flag contest, this one organized in 1975. For reasons that remain murky, Tishler’s flag was never adopted, though he did receive the contest’s prize, a $100 savings bond. In 2001, another contest went for naught after the Milwaukee Arts Board refused to endorse any of the 105 designs submitted. Which was too bad, because three years later, NAVA rated Milwaukee as 147th (out of 150) in a nationwide ranking of city flags.
Recently, the Milwaukee Police Department redesigned the patches its officers wear on their arms, updating the emblems to include such modern symbols as the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Calatrava addition. So we think it’s high time to do the same for the city. Surely, a call to action would bring out the city’s many vexillographers, amateur or otherwise.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We don’t purport to know what the new flag should look like, folks. We’re just here to get the wheels moving (again). Anyone with the faintest desire to contribute to the effort should visit MilwaukeeMag.com/CityFlagPetition and register your support for updating and redesigning our banner. We want a flag that will unite its people and inspire them to greatness.
To be sure, there are more pressing matters that face our city, but how can we stand united to battle those ailments when our overarching banner features images long ago relegated to the dustbins of history?
As Ferrigan puts it, “A great city deserves a great flag,” and we couldn’t agree more.
