Is Columbia’s flag one of the best in the country? See the competition and vote
Columbia is in the running to be named the best city flag in North America, at least according to Twitter.
Brian Stokle, a city planner in San Francisco, started an online tournament comparing 80 flags in the U.S. and Canada, with hopes of determining the best municipal flag in North America.
Columbia faced off against Durham, North Carolina; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; and Kingston, Ontario, in a match-up Thursday.
North American City Flags Tournament Match #2 of Round 1 is today.
Atlantic Division's Group Cleat match:
Columbia SC, Durham NC, Gettysburg PA, and Kingston ON
The two highest vote getters from this match move on to Round 2. #CityFlagsTourney22 #vexillology pic.twitter.com/WQJ2gBTUbp— Brian Stokle ♀️ (@urbanlifesigns) November 17, 2022
Friday morning, Columbia was in the lead with 49% of all votes.
It may not be the most scientific polling method, but Stokle said it’s fun to engage with people about where they’re from.
“We often don’t have many symbols to go, ‘Hey, I love where I live,’ something to rally around,” he said.
The competition is meant to raise awareness for Stokle’s own redesign of San Francisco’s flag, and it draws from city flags that have been updated since 2015.
The competition can be found on Twitter using the hashtag #cityflagstourney22.
Columbia adopted its current flag in 2020, a wash of white and different shades of blue alluding to the city’s unique positioning at the confluence of three rivers. It was picked as part of a design competition held by Columbia officials to update the city’s flag.
