We are proud to call Salt Lake City home, but we are not proud to call the official flag of Salt Lake City (pictured above) ours. Did you even realize that Salt Lake City has a flag? Most people we’ve talked to had no idea. Unfortunately, the Salt Lake City flag is sorely lacking. There are five rules to good flag design, and Salt Lake’s flag pretty much breaks them all. It’s complicated, it’s busy, and it’s not attractive. “A great city flag is something that represents a city to its people, and its people to the world at large. And when that flag is a beautiful thing, that connection is a beautiful thing.” (Roman Mars). The current Salt Lake City flag was approved in 2006. Mayor Rocky Anderson sponsored a contest to redesign the flag, which received more than fifty entries. The city council was unimpressed with the options, and formed a subcommittee with the mayor’s office to design a new flag. The results were less than desirable. Salt Lake City needs a new flag to rally under, and we need your help to make that happen! “I like to say that in every bad flag, there is a good flag trying to get out.” (Ted Kaye). Let’s stop right here. Be honest, if you don’t feel like reading on, that’s fine, but do us a favor and watch this short TED talk by Roman Mars. Trust us. Watch this and you’ll understand. Why city flags may be the worst-designed thing you've never noticed Why should you care about a new flag? “Often when city leaders say, ‘we have more important things to do than worry about a city flag.’ My response is, if you had a great city flag, you would have a banner for people to rally under to face those more important things.” (Ted Kaye). Cities like Washington DC, Chicago, and Portland have beautiful flags. They are loved by the residents of their respective cities. They are proudly displayed around town, at sporting events, and branded on goods of all kinds. “It isn’t just that people love Chicago, and therefore love the flag. I also think that people love Chicago more, because the flag is so cool.” (Roman Mars). That’s “a positive feedback loop between great symbolism and civic pride.” (Ted Kaye). In fact, “when a police officer or a firefighter dies in Chicago, often it’s not the flag of the United States on his casket, it can be the flag of the city of Chicago. That’s how deeply the flag has gotten into the civic imagery of Chicago.” (Ted Kaye) We propose that five steps need to be taken to change the flag.1)    Create public discontent and enthusiasm for change.2)    Get city government agreement that change is necessary.3)    Create a process to receive designs.4)    Name a proper committee to judge them.5)    Have the city council vote yes/no. What do you say? Join us on our quest to give Salt Lake City the standard it deserves! Follow the movement on instagram @slcflag, sign the petition, and contact your local representative.