Flag of Portland, Oregon
The city flag of Portland, Oregon, consists of a green field on which is placed a white four-pointed star (a truncated hypocycloid) from which radiate blue stripes, each bordered by L-shaped yellow elements. Narrow white fimbriations separate the blue and yellow elements from each other and from the green background. The official ordinance specifies a height of 3 feet and a length of 5 feet.
Use | Civil and state flag |
---|---|
Proportion | 3:5 |
Adopted | 1969 |
Design | Nordic Cross design with Blue stripe surrounded by a yellow stripe within a white stripe, on a green background. |
Designed by | Douglas Lynch |
City ordinance 176874, adopted September 4, 2002, designates the design and its symbolism. Green stands for "the forests and our green City"; yellow for "agriculture and commerce"; blue for "our rivers".[1] Portland straddles the Willamette River near its confluence with the Columbia River. City Ordinance 186794, adopted September 3, 2014, updated the proportions and the Pantone color specifications: White, PMS 279 (Blue); PMS 349 (Green); and PMS 1235 (Yellow).
The flag was designed in 1969 by a longtime Portland resident, noted graphic designer R. Douglas Lynch (1913–2009). The version of the flag adopted at that time included, over Lynch's objections, a dark blue canton containing the city seal in yellow and white; in 2002 Lynch and fellow members of the Portland Flag Association persuaded the Portland City Council to simplify the design to better reflect his original intent.
The flag's design ranked seventh among the flags of 150 US cities in the North American Vexillological Association's "American City Flag Survey of 2004".[2]
See also
References
- "Chapter 1.06 Official Flag". The City of Portland, Oregon. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
- "2004 American City Flags Survey" (PDF). North American Vexillological Association.
Further reading
- Purcell, John M.; James A. Croft; Rich Monahan (2003). "Portland, Oregon [by Mason Kaye]". American City Flags (Part 1: United States). Trenton, NJ: North American Vexillological Association. pp. 274–279. ISBN 0-9747728-0-1.
External links
- City Flag general description and legal specification (from City Auditor's website)
- Portland, Oregon (U.S.) at Flags of the World
- 99% Invisible podcast, Episode 140: Vexillonaire – Tells the story of the 1969 & 2002 Portland flags
- website of the Portland Flag Association