Unfurling A Controversy: Cedar Park Flag Flap Goes From Fun To Fiasco

CEDAR PARK, TX — The idea to create a flag for Cedar Park—which has made do with a mere logo exhibiting a cedar tree leaf designed in 2000—began innocently enough with a TED talk.

Like many of us, Mayor Matt Powell drew inspiration from one of the many thoughtful, if brief, monologues that have come to be known simply as TED talks, the acronym standing for the Technology, Entertainment and Design nonprofit that first launched the programs in 1984 which now are a cultural phenomenon covering the breadth of human experience—from business to science—now conducted in more than 100 languages worldwide.

The specific TED talk serving as Powell's muse: "Why city flags may be the worst-designed thing you've never noticed," by Roman Mars, host and producer of "99% Invisible," a KALW radio show and podcast, and frequent contributor to radio programs such as Radiolab and Planet Money.

In the 18-minute talk, Mars explains not only what goes into the making of a great city flag but also the pitfalls inherent to bad design. Knowing the city of Cedar Park had no official flag of its own, Powell's post-TED talk inspiration grew from that talk, along with established guidelines available as template.

And so a citywide call for entries was issued in the early part of last year, from which 250 entrants emerged. Those sending their submissions were given the entire month of April in which to do so. Days before Christmas, to great fanfare at the holiday tree lighting ceremony, the winning design was unveiled to the throngs of attendees.

It was hard to tell if the cheering at the time was for the flag itself or just the overall excitement of being part of a community holiday gathering that included pyrotechnics (who wouldn't cheer at that?). It wasn't until the holidays were over when dissent over the flag's design began to be voiced in earnest.

Like a post-holiday hangover recovery, residents articulated their dislike of the new Cedar Park flag by January in droves. The din of discontent grew to the point that city officials have now decided to ditch the winning flag and start the process all over again to arrive at a design better suited to represent the city's history.

In the meeting last week when the decision to reboot the process was unanimously made, Powell conceded he may have been more focused on the winning entrant's adherence to accepted flag-making design elements than the resulting aesthetics. Before his concession, residents had voiced their own dislike over the design created by a Cedar Park resident, sometimes in not-too-kind terms, via a Facebook neighborhood page and other forums.

The mayor undoubtedly wishes the outcome would've been different and such local history could be erased. He took some measure to achieve the latter, deleting a post on social media extolling the new (now rejected) flag that was nonetheless retrieved via a screenshot.

The mayor's original post on a discussion thread related to the new flag would be something of a moot point given the decision to restart the process. Now that a re-boot is imminent, would-be flag designers might want to view the TED talk inspiring the mayor's original idea for themselves. In it, the presenter describes the five principles to which every great design should adhere:

• Keep it simple;
• Use meaningful symbolism;
• Use two to three basic colors;
• No lettering or seals;
• Be distinctive.

Without question, the winning design by Cedar Park resident Catherine Van Arnam met all that criteria; A clean and efficient design type of simple yet resonant symbolism outlined in the established principles but with a minimal use of coloring. The design adhered to guidelines espoused by the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA), a member organization devoted to the scientific and scholarly study of flags referenced in the TED talk.

Here's what it looked like:

The colors invoked the flora and fauna of the landscape, while those four Xs in the foreground represented both the four names under which the city has been identified as well as the barbed wire lined across wood posts from trees felled within the community where a brisk lumber industry once thrived.

As the uprising over the flag reached its zenith, local historians argued that the numerical representation of the crosses as allusion to the four name changes the city has undergone was historically inaccurate. According to Cedarparkhistory.com, Cedar Park has had three (not four) official names in its history.

If the annexed land formerly known as "Buttercup" is added as a design element to the flag, one resident noted, then there should have been acknowledgment of the two previous names for Buttercup as well. Others provide a rougher calculus given various annexations in intervening years, saying the city may actually have had up to six names throughout its history.

Historical accuracy aside, the aesthetic execution alone drew opposition. While the winning entry was technically adherent to accepted flag-design principles, some residents felt it didn't stick the landing. Those four Xs, especially, weren't a hit with residents just from a graphic element standpoint. In complaining of their new flag, several residents pointed to the city logo as not only aesthetically superior but evidence that a city flag already existed. Here's that logo:

But no, Powell reminded. This is but a logo, a banner that is in non-adherence to flag-making guidelines. For one, there's lettering on it—a vexillological no-no. The logo, it was a agreed, is visually pleasing, but a mere logo nonetheless.

Interestingly, the same style of Xs appear in many flags, but usually not to invoke barbed wire as much as to represent St. Andrew's crosses. Here's the flag design for Bernisse, Netherlands, for example:

Look familiar?

Netherlands flag makers seem pretty partial to those Xs or crosses. Here are the designs for Amsterdam, Ouder-Amstel and Amstelveen, respectively, as further examples:

Roman calls the Amsterdam flag "the most badass city flag in the world," given that it hints at a coat of arms without actually burdening the design with the thing. But in flag circles, the construct of these Xs are not reminiscent or symbolic of barbed wire but of X-shaped crosses called saltires of the type upon which the apostle Andrew is believed to have been crucified. According to lore, St. Andrew is said to have told his executioners he wasn't worthy to be crucified on the same style of cross as Christ, persuading them to alter the shape of his cross.

Would-be flag designers in Cedar Park might want to keep this in mind. And, speaking of St. Andrew, for the love of all that is holy, avoid emulating the flags of some cities that Roman considers design disasters. Take Milwaukee, for instance. Better yet, take the Milwaukee, flag, please—with apologies to Henny Youngman:

"There is a scourge of bad flags," Roman asserts. "And they must be stopped," calling the Milwaukee flag "...one of the biggest train wrecks in vexillological history." The city, like Cedar Park, ran a contest and solicited hundreds of designs from residents, but Roman calls it a "kitchen sink" flag and a "hot mess" given the many elements its designer tried to fit in. Note the flag design of another flag within the Milwaukee flag design.

As another cautionary flag tale, Roman unfurled the San Francisco flag as another example:

It's supposed to represent a Phoenix rising from the ashes, a reference to the great fire of 1906 sparked after an earthquake that caused unimaginable destruction—property damage of an estimated $350 million, equivalent to $8.97 billion in today's dollars—from which the city remarkably recovered. Roman would prefer to see an improved stylistic approach to the avian feature as well as a deletion of the lettering.

In his TED talk, Roman offers invaluable advice to would-be designers: Start by drawing a 1" X 1 1/2" version of your flag first. The elements you come up with seen from 15 inches away are proportionate to a finished, 3' X 5' product seen from 100 feet away.

In every bad flag, there's a good flag trying to get out, one of the sources of Roman's TED talk notes.

In the debate that followed the Cedar Park flag flap, some residents wondered why the hubbub over a flag. Surely there are more important issues on which to focus than a city flag. But a flag is an important symbol, and a tangible representation of a city around which to rally with civic pride. What's more, a well-designed flag reflects the very work ethic of the city from which is inspiration sprang.

if you see your city flag and like it, fly it.

"As we move more and more into cities, the city flag will become not just a symbol of that city as a place, but also it could become a symbol of how that city considers design itself," Roman says. "A well-designed flag could be seen as an indicator of how a city sees all its design systems: It's public transit, it's parks, its signage. It might seem frivolous, but it's not."

Inspiration can be gotten from the Chicago, Portland or Hong Kong flag or many of the other beautifully designed city banners from elsewhere.

And whatever you may think if the first effort from Cedar Park that has since been rejected, consider the flag of Pocatello, Idaho, which NAVA considers to be the worst city flag in North America:

Given the above atrocity, perspective can be gleaned that this flag exercise could've turned out far worse. From that point of reference, residents should consider themselves lucky for the second chance at a flag design, learn from past mistakes, but above all else: Be nice to your fellow flag designers in crafting a replacement.

And may the best flag win.

>>> Photo of flag unveiling courtesy of City of Cedar Park