The verdict is in, and Kent officially has a new flag.
Zach Garster, secretary of the city’s flag committee, designed the banner, which sports a white star in the center of green and blue crossbars. On second, but perhaps not first glance, the crossbars form a capital K.
A flag committee consisting of five residents and two city council members put out a call for flag designs a year ago, and narrowed 68 submissions to three. The top trio was on display at the Kent Free Library from March until Flag Day, June 14, and the public was invited to submit online or paper responses.
By Flag Day, the committee had received over 900 survey responses, including 30 or 40 from people who admitted they had no tie to Kent at all. Though the flag committee had no obligation to pick the design with the most votes, committee chair Jon Ridinger said the chosen design reflected what the most people and the committee liked the best.
The committee modified Garster’s design before ultimately accepting a final rendition, Ridinger said.
Council approved the committee’s recommendation June 21. The flag will be flown outside city buildings, and, since the design is intentionally not copyrighted, may also be reprinted by local businesses or anyone else.
The city will be giving away flag-shaped button pins, keychains, stickers and a coloring sheet designed by Kent artist Jay Geldhof at the Kent Heritage Festival on Saturday, July 1.
A city flag is more than a symbol, Ridinger said.
“It’s just another one of those things that gives a city identity. It’s a way to show that identity, that pride. Same with the U.S. flag, same with the state flag,” he said.
Ridinger said he and his team knew people might say the flag doesn’t make them think of Kent, but noted that when the U.S. flag was new, no one knew what it was, either.
“If you’ve never seen it before, you don’t have that association,” he said. “It’s a matter of getting it visibly out there and getting used to seeing it.”
Besides Ridinger and Garster, also serving on the Flag Committee were vice chair Valerie Landis, Kenneth Crookston, Mario Morelos, and city council members Tracy Wallach and Mike DeLeone.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.