The flag of Phoenix, Arizona, is the official municipal flag of

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. Its current design is a

maroon Maroon ( US/ UK , Australia ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word ''marron'', or chestnut. "Marron" is also one of the French translations for "brown". According to multiple dictionaries, there are var ...

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

with a white phoenix emblem in the center. The design is the second in the city's history and has been in place since 1990, replacing a flag that was adopted in 1921.

Design and symbolism

The flag is of 5:9 proportion and consists of a maroon background (officially

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228) and a white phoenix in the center of the flag, the same icon used in the Seal of Phoenix. The bird's wings curve upward to nearly complete a full circle, with a diameter of one-third the length of the flag. In Greek, "phoenix" means purple, a fact reflected in the color choice for the flag. The mythological phoenix is the namesake of the city, suggested by

Darrell Duppa Phillip Darrell Duppa (October 9, 1832 – January 30, 1892) was a pioneer in the settlement of Arizona prior to its statehood. Life Duppa, who called himself Lord Darrell Duppa, was born in Paris, France, in 1832. He attended Cambridge Universit ...

in 1868, because it described a city born from the ruins of former Native American civilizations.

History

First flag

Phoenix's first flag was designed for a contest organized by the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce in 1921. The first-place winner is unknown and was not chosen, as the design was considered too ornate for a flag. The second-place finisher, Frederick C. Green, had his design chosen instead. The flag had a dark blue field with a gray phoenix facing the outer edge of the flag, in front of a golden 48-pointed sun. Below this, a white banner with a gold icon had the words "City of Phoenix, Arizona". This design was flown during the Industrial Week and Armistice Day Parade on November 11, 1921, and was officially adopted by the

Phoenix City Council The Phoenix City Council is the governing body of the city of Phoenix, Arizona. The council is made up of nine members, including a mayor and eight council members representing individual districts. While the mayor is elected in a citywide electi ...

on November 23, 1921, with the creation of Ordinance No. 554. The original proportions were 52 by 66 inches, but later versions were made in the proportion of 5:6.

Second flag

In autumn of 1986, the government of Phoenix decided a more unified brand for the city would be beneficial, as it would present an easy-to-identify image for the city. Additionally, standardizing official government products would save the city about $50,000. As a result of this, a logo contest was conceived and was launched in March 1987, with the rules stating the design must include a phoenix bird and the words "City of Phoenix". About 277 entries were received, mostly from individuals and firms from around the Phoenix area, but some from as far away as Surrey, England. From these, ten were selected as semi-finalists and made presentations to a panel in June 1987. These presentations were held at the

Phoenix Civic Plaza The Phoenix Convention Center is an events venue in downtown Phoenix, Arizona located along East Monroe, East Washington, East Jefferson, North Second, North Third, and North Fifth Streets. It opened in 1972 and hosts national and regional conv ...

, in front of an audience of several hundred. Of these, four progressed and gave their presentations to the

. These four logo designs were voted on by the public, with ballot boxes placed around the city. A

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phone number was set up and ballots were printed in the Sunday '' Arizona Republic'' newspaper and on municipal water bills. More than 20,000 ranked voting ballots were submitted, with the winning entry being a design by graphic design firm Smit Ghormley Sanft. The current flag, using the phoenix bird logo from the contest, was officially adopted as the official flag of Phoenix on February 14, 1990, following the repeal of the 1921 ordinance mentioned previously. This change was made without fanfare and even came as a surprise to some, as the new branding was created almost three years prior, without any action targeted towards the city flag. It was also coincidental to the arrival of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

's Cardinals from St. Louis in

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and their near-similar cardinal color. The flag made its first public appearance at the inauguration of Mayor Paul Johnson. The design ranked fourth best out of 150 United States city flags in a 2004 survey of the North American Vexillological Association, behind only the flags of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The flag is also featured on the cover of the NAVA's 2003 book ''

American City Flags ''American City Flags'' is a special double volume issue of ''Raven: A Journal of Vexillology'', a Academic journal, peer-reviewed journal published by the North American Vexillological Association. It is the first comprehensive work on the subje ...

''. A 2015

Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' ( ) is a design, technology, science and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton, and runs on the Kinja platform. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the subsite ''io9'', whic ...

article ranked Phoenix's among the worst city flags, however, calling its design "too simple".

References

External links