City of Dayton reveals new flag

City officials hope that the new flag will inspire pride, and are making the design publicly available at daytonohio.gov/flag so it can be used beyond city hall for t-shirts, mugs, websites and more.

“I want to thank the many people that have made this new flag possible,” Mayor Nan Whaley said at the unveiling.

She said that includes the 312 community flag designs initially submitted. This also includes the volunteer flag committee.

Also Dayton-based Catapult Creative designed the final flag, using elements from the top three submitted designs. Finally, she thanked legislative aide Maggie Schaller for her research and leadership on the project.

The flag’s symbolism includes white stripes reminiscent of the Wright Flyer’s wings. The bold lines and colors, especially the green, symbolize the “Gem City.” The wings of the flyer divide the flag into three sections: a green section symbolizing the land, a dark blue section for riverways in Dayton, and a light blue section symbolizing the sky. In addition, the five angled stripes (four white, one blue) represent the five rivers throughout the region, according to the city officials and designers.

City Commission gave final approval of the flag design at its regular meeting Wednesday night.

Dayton’s first flag was created in 1917. In 1956, there was an open contest to replace it. A new flag was selected by a six-person group and implemented in 1958 and hasn’t changed since.

In 2019, city officials began public outreach for designs and elements for a new flag with the goal of creating one that reflects the input of residents.

The project had been put on hold March 2020 and through much of 2021 due to the pandemic.

The city flag that was replaced is white and blue and has “Dayton” written down the left side. On the right side is a gear, with a globe inside and a silhouette of the Wright Flyer.

A 20-person volunteer committee oversaw the flag redesign process, working with city officials. The steering committee was chaired by Commissioner Jeffrey Mims, who is now mayor-elect, and Dayton Public Schools Board Member Jocelyn Rhynard.

Community members submitted 312 flag design ideas and the flag committee narrowed it to the top 10 flags. The city commission narrowed it to the top three.

The city hired a design firm Catapult Creative to take the submissions, see what people liked about them, and come up with a final flag design that incorporated the ideas.

Raichel Jenkins, director of client relations with Catapult, said they wanted to make the flag something people would want to display and that was accessible to display.

“By making it available to everyone, we’re allowing everyone to take part in what we hope is a big source of pride for the city,” Jenkins said.