Dustin Bajer

Designing With Nature. These are my projects.

  • Shop
    • Stickers
    • Online Beekeeping Courses
  • About Me
  • Order A Beehive
  • Beekeeping Courses
    • Online Beekeeping Certificate
    • Course 1: All About Honeybees
    • Course 2: Getting Started in Beekeeping
    • Course 3: Hive Management & Diseases
    • Course 4: Honey Harvesting & Winterization
  • Contact
  • My account
  • Checkout
  • Cart
You are here: Home / Dustin Bajer's Articles / Should We Redesign Edmonton’s Flag?

Should We Redesign Edmonton’s Flag?

February 20, 2014 by Dustin Bajer 5 Comments

In Search of A Better Edmonton Flag

In 2010 99% invisible put out a podcast episode about city flag design – mostly about how bad city flags tend to be. That got me thinking about Edmonton’s city-flag. For starters, – do we have one? As it turns out, we do, and it’s pretty terrible.

Roman Mars from 99 Percent Invisible pokes fun at the Edmonton flag.

Roman Mars Pokes Fun oF The Edmonton Flag

Rules For Flag Design

In the podcast, host Roman discusses the characteristics of beautiful city flags and the role they can play in placemaking. With the help of a flag expert (Vexillologist), Roman describes the following flag design principals:

  1. Keep it simple, so simple a child can draw it from memory.
  2. Use meaningful symbolism.
  3. Use two to three basic colours.
  4. No lettering or seals of any kind.
  5. Be distinctive or be related.

Ouch! Stacked against Roman’s five rules, the Edmonton flag leaves something lacking. As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one to notice.

Colour Your Flag

In early 2014, a citywide design challenge asked Edmontonians to redesign or reinvent the Edmonton flag. Naturally, I took a stab at it – here are the three designs I came up with:

Edmonton Flag Attempts One and Two
A redesign of the Edmonton's city flag.

Redesigned Edmonton City Flag (Summer Edition)

A redesign of the Edmonton's city flag.

Redesigned Edmonton City Flag (Winter Edition)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I see Edmonton is a social, economic, and ecological meeting place. Sandwiched between the Great Plains to the South and the Boreal Forest to the North, Edmonton is an environmental ecotone. Contrary to popular belief, Edmonton is not a prairie city but a city, on a river, in a forest. For economic and social reasons, First Nations have been a meeting on the banks of the North Saskatchewan for thousands of years. Eventually, other cultures joined and the city as we know it emerged from unique ecological, economic, and social niches.

Edmonton Flag Attempt Number Two (and my favourite)
Edmonton Flag Design Featuring a Magpie

Edmonton Magpie Flag

#YEGPIE #FLAGPIE

The Magpie, like Edmonton, is an underrated and under-appreciated animal – resourceful, hardy, and social. Though we complain about them often, many of us secretly think they’re kind of beautiful.

Not convinced? Here are more 11 reasons why the Magpie defines Edmonton.

Blue bands represent the North Saskatchewan river and sky while a central green band represents Edmonton’s Aspen Parkland forest. That’s right people – aspen parklands – contrary to popular sentiment, Edmonton is not a prairie city.

Purchase a YEGPIE sticker

The Future of Edmonton’s Flag

Since posting this article, there has been some press and serious discussion around changing the Edmonton Flag. In any case, I believe that a future flag should embrace our past and present a point of pride for the future. And or course should meet the five rules for good flag design.

Filed Under: Dustin Bajer's Articles Tagged With: Edmonton, YEGPIE

Comments

  1. Anne Kusiak says

    April 12, 2014 at 9:46 am

    Love the simplicity of related colours . The river basin could be a u as opposed to a v. The curved lines could represent Edmonton’s native roots….

    Reply
    • Dustin Bajer says

      April 12, 2014 at 10:11 am

      Thanks Anne! Also, great suggestions!

      A pretty literal flag, I had a lot of fun sticking it together.

      Reply
  2. tbulger says

    November 19, 2014 at 9:58 am

    ha, I listened to the flag episode of 99pi on the way home yesterday and in looking at edmonton flag came across this post. Agree CoE needs a new flag

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Edmonton Notes for 2/23/2014 - MasterMaq's Blog says:
    February 23, 2014 at 10:47 pm

    […] Think you can design a better flag for Edmonton? There’s now a community-wide design challenge that invites you to do just that. Dustin Bajer has already submitted his design, in both winter and summer versions, with an explanation here. […]

    Reply
  2. Edmonton Magpie Flag Design - Dustin Bajer says:
    March 2, 2014 at 12:19 pm

    […] So apparently I like making Edmonton flags. Who knew? To understand why check out my original post. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Cart

Dustin Bajer

Teacher, permaculture designer, master gardener, hobby beekeeper, consultant, and network nerd living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Read More

Recent Posts

  • Ecological Garden Design Course
  • Shrubscriber Feature Member – Yong Fei Guan
  • Shrubscriber Feature Member – Julie Kusiek
  • Shrubscriber Feature Member – Sherry Heschuk
  • Shrubscriber Feature Member – Jonathan Crane
  • 11 Woody Superpowers That Can Grow Better Cities
  • Funding Community Tree Planting With Shrubscriber
  • Making Walnut Ink And Dye
  • Online Beekeeping Community of Practice
  • Teaching Online Beekeeping Certificate Courses

Contact Information

info@dustinbajer.com
1 (780) 235-0223

Privacy Policy

Refund Policy

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Tags

Adjacent Possible Aquaponics Avantgarden Beekeeping Biophilic Design Botany Craft Cycling Edmonton Education Elm Trees (Ulmus spp.) Food Forward Link Gardening Genetic Engineering Heritage Plants of Edmonton Horsechestnut and Buckeye Trees (Aesculus Spp.) How To List Long Trees Maple Trees (Acer spp.) Maps Migrated Nature Oak Trees (Quercus spp.) Pine Trees (Pinus spp.) Populus spp. Product Prunus spp. Public Talk Quora School Gardens Shrubscriber Shrubscriber Feature Member Six Spruce Trees (Picea spp.) Sustainable Food Edmonton Trees Urban Agriculture Urban Ecology Urban Forestry Urbanism What Grows Here? Willow Trees (Salix spp.) YEGPIE

Payment Method

PayPal, Stripe, or Credit Card
eTransfer, Check, or Cash Options Available Upon Request

Copyright © 2023 · Modern Portfolio Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in