Flag of Portland, Oregon
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| 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 |
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.
Design and history
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.[citation needed]
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
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