MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Common Council voted Tuesday to move forward with the plan to create the Milwaukee City Flag Task Force to manage a new campaign for the city’s flag design.
The task force will consist of nine members appointed by the mayor, the council president and the chair of the Milwaukee Arts Board. Their goal would be to solicit, evaluate, and recommend a new flag design for the city.
Currently, Milwaukee has two flags: the original flag from the 1800s and the “People’s Flag of Milwaukee,” which was unveiled in 2016.
While the 2016 design process received more than 1,000 submissions from residents, some critics have argued the process wasn’t inclusive enough.
Watch: Milwaukee council to vote on creating task force for new city flag
I spoke with Steve Kodis, the man behind the 2016 effort, about this issue in 2018 and again on Monday.
“I think our process was very successful. It was very inclusive of the community at large, [and] young folks. We got crayon drawings, we got professional drawings. We got thousands of submissions from all over the city, and to do another process, I think people are maybe a little burnt out. I anticipate that people are going to say we already have a flag,” Kodis explained.
One resident I spoke to embraced the People’s Flag design and emphasized the importance of iconography.
“I’ve been here since 2006, moved up from Tampa, and I can’t even tell you what Tampa’s flag looks like. This is definitely—I’m more than willing to spend my own money on something like this,” Brant Holeman said. “There are definitely more important things we could be dealing with. But again, iconography and image is important, and people are involved, people are interested in it.”
The task force is expected to select a new flag design and have it voted on by the council by the end of this year, ready for the city’s 180th anniversary in January 2026.
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