Aurora, Brighton, Broomfield, Denver, Greely, Longmont, Loveland, and Superior are all cities within close proximity of Boulder. They also have another thing in common — flags.
The idea of Boulder having a flag has been proposed before. The Boulder Daily Camera reports that they held a 1987 contest to design a flag for the city. The winner, a green-white-green tricolor adorned with the seal of the city, was published in the paper and awaited a response from the city council. It was never adopted.
Opponents of Boulder flag-making believe that it would be unnecessary. Former Mayor Linda Jourgenson, as quoted in the Boulder Daily Camera, doesn’t think a flag is needed. “Boulder stands on its own,” she insists.
Another concern arises through the nature of symbols. A Boulder flag could be vandalized, hijacked, or otherwise demeaned. Though intended to be a symbol of Boulder pride, a flag could be turned political or become hateful. According to Britannica, the Gadsden Flag, originally an American revolutionary war symbol, has been morphed into a political symbol for the libertarian party. A reputable newspaper, The Economist, tells the story of the Netherland’s former flag and its transformation into a symbol for facism. The Prince’s flag, or Prinsenvlag, was the official name of the orange-white-blue horizontal tricolor that officially represented the Netherlands for a large portion of the 17th century. Although functionally replaced by a red-white-blue horizontal tricolor (the red replacing the orange), the Prince’s flag was still a common symbol representing the Dutch people. The color orange itself is also strongly tied to Dutch independence movements from Spain in the 1500s, with William of Orange-Nassau at the helm of the revolt. Fast forward to the 1930s, and the NSB (a radical political party with close ties to Dutch fascism) had hijacked the flag as their symbol. In response, the Dutch Queen reaffirmed the red-white-blue horizontal tricolor flag as the official national flag, leaving the previously beloved Prince’s flag to forever be associated with facism. With these stories in mind, proponents of a Boulder flag should be aware of the lasting consequences a flag turned political propaganda piece could harken.
However, there are certainly examples of flags promoting unity. Here at Boulder High, a purple-and-gold Union Jack variant is flown at our home football games. The flag of the United States and the state of Colorado also fly outside the school.
Finance-savvy critics may contend that the flag proposal process can be needlessly expensive. New Zealand, for example, sought to design a new flag to replace the New Zealand Ensign. At the time of their flag referendum, the New Zealand flag was adorned with a Union Jack in the top-right corner. According to an article from the BBC, some Kiwis (New Zealanders) felt that the flag containing the Union Jack was an unhappy reminder of their colonial past. Furthermore, the similarities between New Zealand’s flag and Australia’s flag often caused confusion; both at diplomatic summits and with the public. For these reasons, it became clear that the flag needed to change. Sometime later, a call was sent out to the public: the (new) New Zealand flag would be designed by the public. According to an article published in The Guardian, thousands of submissions soon flooded the flag-selecting committee. After multiple selection processes, five designs were declared as finalists. More referendums ensued, and the new flag was finally chosen. This new design, however, was pitted against the current-design in one last referendum. Again, the decision was opened to the public. In a near 50-50 split…the new design lost against the sitting flag.
10 months of debate, thousands of designs, and £26,000,000 wasted — the flag remained unchanged.
New Zealand’s struggle with their flag serves as a cautionary tale for cities such as Boulder that are looking for flags.
Compared to its peers, I think Boulder is lacking significantly in the flag department. Granted, less than half of the cities and towns within Boulder County have a flag. However, if any city in the county is deserving of a flag, it is the most populous city that offered its namesake. If Boulderites decide to adopt a flag, they must be sure that everyone is ‘on board’ in order to avoid catastrophe.
