A new Flag for Orlando

Defining our identity for generations to come

The Old Flag

The city of Orlando launched a contest asking us citizens to propose new ideas to replace our old flag. Our old flag doesn’t follow Vexillological standards and it ends up being too busy and complicated to be easily remembered or drawn. We can and we will do better!

Vexillology

As requested by the city, and Roman Mars great TED Talk, a good flag should follow these 5 principles.

Keep it simple: The flag should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory.
Use meaningful symbolism: The flag’s images, colors, or patterns should relate to what it symbolizes.
Use 2-3 basic colors: Limit the number of colors on the flag to three, which contrast well and come from the standard color set.
No lettering or seals: Never use writing of any kind or an organization’s seal.
Be distinctive or be related: Avoid duplicating other flags, but use similarities to show connections.

THE IDEA

I wanted to reflect on the values that the flag should carry, the things that define us as a city and our potential. So here’s what I came up with.

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Our Blessed Land

Our city beautiful is surrounded by beautiful lakes and fertile land. Throughout the year we are full of sunny days and clear skies. Great weather is a defining characteristic of our city. It’s part of the reason we have the best theme parks and we’re a key tourist destination.

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Progress

Orlando has always been a synonym of progress. Growth, wealth and prosperity are defining factors of our city. We’ve been blessed with great industries (tourism, aerospatial, tech, health and construction) that have defined our city. We have the largest (or 2nd largest, depending on who you ask) university in the US, UCF. We are a hub of knowledge in both science and arts.

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Diversity

Orlando has become a welcoming city for people from all different cultures and backgrounds. We show the rest of America how diversity and integration creates strength. We are a united Orlando that embraces diversity and brotherhood.

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Potential

Orlando has an incredible potential. There should be something in our flag that represents our infinite potential as a city, as citizens, as humans that work and live together in a peaceful, prosper community.

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Union

Orlando has become a welcoming city for people from all different cultures and backgrounds. It shows the rest of America how diversity and integration creates strength. We are a united Orlando that embraces diversity and brotherhood.

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The City

There should be something clearly unique. Something that’s easy to draw, easy to understand. Something that really says, this is Orlando.

COLORS & SYMBOLS

Color & Symbol selection to represent our city

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BLUE

Blue represents depth, trust, loyalty, stability. All values that are present in our city But even more, blue represents our lakes, our clear skies and our sports teams (Orlando Magic, especially).

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GOLD

Gold represents our growth, wealth, progress, prosperity, knowledge and our sunny days. It’s the color of UCF, our great University It also represents our tourism, aerospatial, health, construction and tech industries and the innovation hub we’re becoming.

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WHITE

White represents our union and integration, it’s all the rainbow colors (a symbol of our city since the Pulse attack) merged together symbolizing a united Orlando that embraces diversity and brotherhood in peace. It is, at the same time, a reminder that united we overcome the hardest times and the bright future that lies ahead.

RINGS

Two Interlaced Rings. A gold one and a white one joined together, as are our values, as is our city. They also look like an infinity sign.

A symbol of our potential.

TWO O's

The 2 rings are also 2 letters O. Something that wraps up our entire city from beginning to end: OrlandO – OO

THE FLAG

Meet my proposal

Here’s the official, 148-word description of my flag proposal: The flag is a blue field representing our lakes, our clear skies and our sports teams. Inside there are 2 rings: The Gold Ring represents our growth, wealth, progress, prosperity, knowledge and our sunny days: It wraps UCF (the largest university in the US), our industries (tourism, aerospatial, health, construction) and the tech innovation hub we’re becoming. Orlando is equal to growth. The White Ring represents our union and integration, it’s all the rainbow colors merged together symbolizing a united Orlando that embraces diversity and brotherhood. It is, at the same time, a reminder that united we overcome the hardest times and the bright future that lies ahead. The rings are interlaced as are our values and they make an infinity sign, a symbol of our potential. The rings also are 2 “O”s, embracing OrlandO from beginning to end. All these symbols together define our city beautiful.

ABOUT ME

The designer and insights

Jaime Creixems

UX Designer & Web Developer

Hi, I’m Jaime. I’m a UX designer • webdev • geek • engineer • bootstrapper • podcaster • lived in Orlando from 2014 to 2017.

I first visited Orlando when I was 5. I’ve been coming here almost every year until I moved in, in 2014 and yearly since I moved out.

I love this city as it was my own. I feel it as my own. After I moved here I really feel in love with it deeply. It’s values, the people, the land, the growth is something I’m fascinated by and really proud to be a part of.

I’d love to contribute this flag to Orlando. I think it represents it fully and it could be a symbol for generations to come.