The flag of

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) 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 over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, contains a maroon field with a white phoenix emblem in the center. Its 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 PMS 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 Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, "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 in 1868, because it described a city born from the ruins of former Native American civilizations. The design of the flag may take inspiration from those of Japanese prefecture flags.

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 The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

. 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 elect ...

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 the fall 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 Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. 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, 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 1-900 phone number was set up and ballots were printed in the Sunday ''

Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. History Early years The newspap ...

'' newspaper and on municipal water bills. More than 20,000

ranked voting Ranked voting is any voting system that uses voters' Ordinal utility, rankings of candidates to choose a single winner or multiple winners. More formally, a ranked vote system depends only on voters' total order, order of preference of the cand ...

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 gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

's Cardinals from

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

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 The North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) is a membership organization devoted to vexillology, the study of flags. It was founded in 1967 by American vexillologist Whitney Smith, and others. Its membership of 1,100+ comprises flag s ...

, behind only the flags of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. The flag is also featured on the cover of the NAVA's 2003 book '' American City Flags''. A 2015

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

References

External links