It would be great if people flew their city's flag more often.  Nowhere else will ever fly the Cincinnati flag other than Cincinnati, plus it gives the city a better sense of place.

 

The American City Flags Survey results listed the best flags in the country.

 

Cincinnati (#22) was the only Ohio city to crack the top 50.

 

Here are the top 10:

1. DC

 

2. Chicago

 

3. Denver

 

4. Phoenix

 

5. St. Louis

 

6. Wichita

 

7. Portland

 

8. Indianapolis

 

9. Louisville

 

10. Corpus Christi

^

The Cincinnati flag is great. Most city flags are dull and look like afterthoughts, but a few are well designed and appealing.

 

 

Burlington, Tampa, Detroit, and Greensboro are nice.

 

At first glance the coat of arms in the center always appears to be upside down to me.

 

Here's the seal from my old (adopted) hometown. I believe it was the product of a city-wide contest years ago:

 

 

Any logo with gears, smokestacks, laborers and lady providence is a-ok with me.

Municipal and County Flags of Ohio:

http://crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-ohmun.html

 

 

I remember when people were flying the Chicago flag instead of the American flag after the 04 elections.

Dayton's seal:

 

I really like Indianapolis and Chicago flags.  Cincinnati's is my favorite from an Ohio city.

 

Washington Park in OTR has the city's seal on pillars at the entrance of the park.

 

The inspiration for this thread partly came from ink's Washington Park thread:

 

Park pillars

 

Close up

 

  Somehow I associate cities with seals rather than flags.

 

  This is what I think are the most recognized symbols:

 

    Nations: Flags

    States: Map outline of state

    Counties: Picture of County Courthouse

    Cities: seals

   

   

I like how the Indianapolis flag is a map of the city.

I used the Cincinnati Flag and Seal as inspiration when i designed this Streetcar Logo:

 

 

Here's the seal from my old (adopted) hometown. I believe it was the product of a city-wide contest years ago:

 

 

Any logo with gears, smokestacks, laborers and lady providence is a-ok with me.

 

looks more like someone is laboring at croquet...monsieur!

Here is the convention flag for NAVA's (the organization that did the flag rankings) Cincinnati Conference:

 

 

Chicago Confernce:

Ohio City is a neighborhood of Cleveland that is adjacent to downtown. Ohio City used to be a separate municipality until sometime in the mid 1800s. It had its own flag. Many people who live in this neighborhood hang the flag out side their homes. (wish I could find a better picture)

 

 

 

 

I love the Ohio City flag.  As a tourist it was really fascinating to see those flags flying on porches and then making the connection between the red portion of the flag and the red sign on street poles designating the neighborhood.

 

I've toyed with thoughts of making an Over-the-Rhine flag to fly on buildings in OTR the way they do with Mardi Gras flags in the French Quarter.

LOL I clicked on this thread simply to see if the Ohio City flag is on here!!!

 

It rules.

Ohio City is a neighborhood of Cleveland that is adjacent to downtown. Ohio City used to be a separate municipality until sometime in the mid 1800s. It had its own flag. Many people who live in this neighborhood hang the flag out side their homes. (wish I could find a better picture)

 

 

 

 

 

I like Ohio City Flag, except for the fact it says "Ohio City"

street signs:

Here's my submission for the new OTR flag: 

 

 

The flag utilizes the format of the Cincinnati Flag, but with Germany's colors running through the rivers to symbolize the importance of German history in the neighborhood.  The blue and white add contrast, incorporate the United State colors and provide the "Buckeye" from the Ohio State flag.  The waves symbolize the importance of rivers not only to the city but also to the neighborhood.  The red river surrounding the center is symbolic of the way the former Miami & Erie canal surrounded the neighborhood, the line that must be crossed to go "Over-the-Rhine."

Here's my submission for the new OTR flag:

 

 

The flag utilizes the format of the Cincinnati Flag, but with Germany's colors running through the rivers to symbolize the importance of German history in the neighborhood. The blue and white add contrast, incorporate the United State colors and provide the "Buckeye" from the Ohio State flag. The waves symbolize the importance of rivers not only to the city but also to the neighborhood. The red river surrounding the center is symbolic of the way the former Miami & Erie canal surrounded the neighborhood, the line that must be crossed to go "Over-the-Rhine."

 

Excellent.  You should definitely pursue this idea for OTR and see what happens.  I like your design too, maybe add something to the Buckeye in the middle.  Maybe an O-T-R?

I always liked the "I Like Cleveland" badge on the cabs...can't find a pic though

Here's my submission for the new OTR flag:

 

 

The flag utilizes the format of the Cincinnati Flag, but with Germany's colors running through the rivers to symbolize the importance of German history in the neighborhood. The blue and white add contrast, incorporate the United State colors and provide the "Buckeye" from the Ohio State flag. The waves symbolize the importance of rivers not only to the city but also to the neighborhood. The red river surrounding the center is symbolic of the way the former Miami & Erie canal surrounded the neighborhood, the line that must be crossed to go "Over-the-Rhine."

 

Very well done.  Also the red O is the O in over the rhine, like the main flag has the C for Cincinanti.

Here is the convention flag for NAVA's (the organization that did the flag rankings) Cincinnati Conference:

 

 

Chicago Confernce:

 

Hey, thomasbw, where did you find those?

 

EDIT: Nevermind, I found it on Wikipedia.

I found them on wikipedia.

Here's my submission for the new OTR flag:

 

 

The flag utilizes the format of the Cincinnati Flag, but with Germany's colors running through the rivers to symbolize the importance of German history in the neighborhood. The blue and white add contrast, incorporate the United State colors and provide the "Buckeye" from the Ohio State flag. The waves symbolize the importance of rivers not only to the city but also to the neighborhood. The red river surrounding the center is symbolic of the way the former Miami & Erie canal surrounded the neighborhood, the line that must be crossed to go "Over-the-Rhine."

 

Could you do a version of this flag with the blue and white switched? I am just curious to see how that looks.

Here's my submission for the new OTR flag:

 

 

The flag utilizes the format of the Cincinnati Flag, but with Germany's colors running through the rivers to symbolize the importance of German history in the neighborhood. The blue and white add contrast, incorporate the United State colors and provide the "Buckeye" from the Ohio State flag. The waves symbolize the importance of rivers not only to the city but also to the neighborhood. The red river surrounding the center is symbolic of the way the former Miami & Erie canal surrounded the neighborhood, the line that must be crossed to go "Over-the-Rhine."

 

Could you do a version of this flag with the blue and white switched? I am just curious to see how that looks.

 

Sure, here you go:

 

 

What do you think?  I have my opinions but I'll reserve them for now.

Here's my submission for the new OTR flag:

 

 

The flag utilizes the format of the Cincinnati Flag, but with Germany's colors running through the rivers to symbolize the importance of German history in the neighborhood. The blue and white add contrast, incorporate the United State colors and provide the "Buckeye" from the Ohio State flag. The waves symbolize the importance of rivers not only to the city but also to the neighborhood. The red river surrounding the center is symbolic of the way the former Miami & Erie canal surrounded the neighborhood, the line that must be crossed to go "Over-the-Rhine."

 

Could you do a version of this flag with the blue and white switched? I am just curious to see how that looks.

 

Sure, here you go:

 

 

What do you think? I have my opinions but I'll reserve them for now.

 

That doesn't work at all.

 

Let's try two more:

1. No blue at all.

2. blue only between the german flag waves and not in the O

How about some sort of emblem/symbol/motto in the "O" like the winged rod, sword, serpents and scales of the city's flag?

I wrote a post about Cincinnati's flag. Thought some of you might enjoy it:

 

http://overtherhine.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/civic-iconography-raising-the-queen-citys-standard/

 

^thanks for the shout out in that post. Not only was the streetcar logo based on the seal, it incorporates the design elements of the flag. The colors of the 3 wavy lines (symbolizing the river) are the same as the 2 straight lines of the seal (symbolizing railroad tracks). And the Streetcar logo is the same color as the "C".

^thanks for the shout out in that post. Not only was the streetcar logo based on the seal, it incorporates the design elements of the flag. The colors of the 3 wavy lines (symbolizing the river) are the same as the 2 straight lines of the seal (symbolizing railroad tracks). And the Streetcar logo is the same color as the "C".

 

Updated the post. Thanks.

how's this for a weird and sort of unattractive flag? (frankly I didn't even know there was one!) The worst part of it is I think the year is wrong. Then again, I believe I've seen at least four or five different dates as to the year P'ville was officially founded and/or incorporated, starting with 1800. No wonder so many things there are screwed up--

Thanks for the post.  I've always loved the Cincinnati flag.  I'm curious what you think of my OTR flag on the previous page.  I've had a full-sized OTR flag hanging in my window for two years now, putting flyers around OTR telling people to use it, and it can't seem to catch a break.  Here's the site for the OTR Flag:  http://www.wix.com/otrflag/otr

Thanks for the post.  I've always loved the Cincinnati flag.  I'm curious what you think of my OTR flag on the previous page.  I've had a full-sized OTR flag hanging in my window for two years now, putting flyers around OTR telling people to use it, and it can't seem to catch a break.  Here's the site for the OTR Flag:  http://www.wix.com/otrflag/otr

 

That's nice! To be honest, I think there's too much blue - not necessarily aesthetically but because I wouldn't want to print it out. That's probably just me.

 

I'm kind of curious to see how it would look if you did what thomasbw suggested:

 

 

Let's try two more:

1. No blue at all.

2. blue only between the german flag waves and not in the O

 

The second idea really makes me curios because the blue "waves" could symbolize the canal and the river.

Thanks for the post.  I've always loved the Cincinnati flag.  I'm curious what you think of my OTR flag on the previous page.  I've had a full-sized OTR flag hanging in my window for two years now, putting flyers around OTR telling people to use it, and it can't seem to catch a break.  Here's the site for the OTR Flag:  http://www.wix.com/otrflag/otr

 

That's nice! To be honest, I think there's too much blue - not necessarily aesthetically but because I wouldn't want to print it out. That's probably just me.

 

I'm kind of curious to see how it would look if you did what thomasbw suggested:

 

 

Let's try two more:

1. No blue at all.

2. blue only between the german flag waves and not in the O

 

The second idea really makes me curios because the blue "waves" could symbolize the canal and the river.

 

I tried a number of different iterations and this one worked best.  I've had hundreds of flags printed on paper and the blue rarely bleeds.  The few full scale flags turned out beautifully. 

 

I've always viewed the Red wave as the Miami and Erie Canal because of the way it surrounds the center the way the canal surrounded the neighborhood.  The other two waves are the Licking and the Ohio in my mind, but they're really just symbolic of the water that flows through all parts of our city. 

Thanks for the post.  I've always loved the Cincinnati flag.  I'm curious what you think of my OTR flag on the previous page.  I've had a full-sized OTR flag hanging in my window for two years now, putting flyers around OTR telling people to use it, and it can't seem to catch a break.  Here's the site for the OTR Flag:  http://www.wix.com/otrflag/otr

 

That's nice! To be honest, I think there's too much blue - not necessarily aesthetically but because I wouldn't want to print it out. That's probably just me.

 

I'm kind of curious to see how it would look if you did what thomasbw suggested:

 

 

Let's try two more:

1. No blue at all.

2. blue only between the german flag waves and not in the O

 

The second idea really makes me curios because the blue "waves" could symbolize the canal and the river.

 

I tried a number of different iterations and this one worked best.  I've had hundreds of flags printed on paper and the blue rarely bleeds.  The few full scale flags turned out beautifully. 

 

I've always viewed the Red wave as the Miami and Erie Canal because of the way it surrounds the center the way the canal surrounded the neighborhood.  The other two waves are the Licking and the Ohio in my mind, but they're really just symbolic of the water that flows through all parts of our city.

 

Yeah, the printing thing is a stupid little pet peeve of mine but totally worth it.

 

I really like the flag as is. I want to do a post on it and maybe have a little neighborhood flag competition someday. If you ever try out the other versions, feel free to send them my way at otrmatters@gmail so I can get feedback from others on which one they like best.  The blue background is pretty nice - the two waves could be the Licking and Ohio and the rest could be the "Rhine" haha

ProkNo5, how much does it cost to have a full sized flag made?

ProkNo5, how much does it cost to have a full sized flag made?

 

I had 6 flags made for $19.99 each.  $38 for S&H.  So....$152/6 flags = $25.33 per flag.  That was 1.5 years ago though.

Have you talked to OTR businesses about flying the flag? Or even hanging it on a wall inside?

 

Maybe a shop (like Park + Vine) or vendor at Findlay Market would like to sell them.

Maybe we can make it semi-official by involving the OTR Foundation - could be a great fundraiser (?)

I'm sure it would take off, given the right opportunity. It's definitely got what it takes. :)

Thanks guys.  OTR, I'm off to work now.  I'll e-mail you some of the other iterations tonight AFTER THE BOCKFEST PARADE! 

 

Everybody remember to bring your umbrellas.

ProkNo5, that's a neat flag. Needs something in the middle tho - hexagram?

Where did you get your flags made?

 

Northside was talking about making one.

 

Clifton seems to have one, dunno if it's official

http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-ohcft.html

Here's a whole buncha Cincinnati flag variants.

 

I didn't do this one, I saw it on the OTR Blog (forgot who did it)

 

^I liked it, but I didn't like the orphan wavey line, so I did this one

 

Then I just went further down the rabbit hole.

 

Also I think the Clifton flag is terrible. Wrong colors (the city, state and national flag are all red white blue), says the actual word Clifton, has a weird jagged border. So I thought about this one

 

^It's extremely evocative of the City Flag, but less adorned. A part of the city but not the whole city.

Clifton needs a new flag...

 

 

Here's a whole buncha Cincinnati flag variants.

 

I didn't do this one, I saw it on the OTR Blog (forgot who did it)

 

I did that but it took like 5 seconds in paint to erase the seal components.

 

Then I just went further down the rabbit hole.

 

I like this a lot. I wonder what it would look like with just a red C in the middle instead of a white C in the second circle...

 

I like this a lot. I wonder what it would look like with just a red C in the middle instead of a white C in the second circle...

 

Here's kind of what I was describing...I have minimal graphic skills:

 

 

 

And another hack:

 

^ Great idea, I like this one

 

It looks like a copyright symbol... ©

It looks like a copyright symbol... ©

 

D'oh!