Lowell needs a better flag! Lowell's current flag was chosen in 1960, by a Lowell Sun-sponsored design contest. The winning entry was essentially a city seal from 1894 on a white background. In 1960, Lowell was a different place. It was just four years before 1960 that Boott Mills went under. And 1960 was 18 years before the Lowell National Historical Park was established, 19 before the first Cambodians settled here, and 46 years before places like Western Ave Studios & Mill No. 5 opened. 

While the seal's industrial history is important, inclusion of more recent history and events will make a more inclusive symbol that can be rallied around and used more in everyday life.

We think this can done via collaboration between the City, local historians, students, and local artists. Our process would closely resemble that of South Bend, Indiana's recent initiative :

1. Work with the City to establish guidelines. This would include anything from color preference to overall theme and reference points on existing symbols or logos used by the City and related organizations.
2. Open up the process for submissions. Anyone who is interested can enter, but entries from Lowell residents would be given priority since in the end, it is their flag. We would also work with educators and businesses to maximize reach and input.
3. Judge the entries. We have an initial pool of historians, business owners, artists, designers and flag experts who will judge on a defined set of criteria. We would also like to have a public display of all entries in a public (or semi-public) place. Milwaukee did this at City Hall for their initiative.
4. Announce the winner and vote it in. After judges agree on a winner, Lowell City Council would vote it in as the official city flag, and add it to the City Ordinances. (Fun Fact: While the current flag was chosen in 1960, it was never made official in the City Ordinances. The seal is there, though.)
5. Release the designs. After it is finalized, the design source (computer files that can be made used to produce things) and guidelines would be freely made available for anyone in the community to use and modify how they wish.

This process will provide an inclusive way for people of all walks of life to get involved and shape their community, while learning a lot about it's history and the arts while they're at it. The end result will be a symbol everyone can rally around and help contribute to other ongoing efforts to give Lowell a sense of place visually.

Please join us asking Lowell City Council, Lowell Department of Planning and Development and the Lowell Cultural Council to make this happen!