Howard County residents already have no shortage of ideas for what their new county flag should look like.
After the county invited people to submit ideas for redesigning the flag, more than 100 people sent a total of 209 designs to a commission tasked with reviewing them. Officials said 184 met the criteria , and those entries were shared online earlier this month.
“I was thrilled with the number and certainly the variety of the submissions that we received,” Coleen West, chair of the flag commission, said. “It looks like we received submissions from children as well as artists and designers”
The 19-member commission plans to hold a public hearing on Sept. 30 at the George Howard Building in Ellicott City, and then select 10 designs for residents to vote on this fall.
But don’t look for the new flag to be flying anytime soon. The commission won’t pick the three finalists until February. They will then be sent to County Executive Calvin Ball, who will choose a final design to send to the County Council for review in the spring.
The hope is that Howard County will raise a new flag by the end of 2025, said Safa Hira, director of communications for the Office of the County Executive.
Ball has said it’s time to change the county flag, which was designed in 1968, because the once-rural county has changed so much. He said he wanted to see the county flag align better with modern-day values.
The flag now includes the same red-and-white bottony cross design seen on the Maryland state flag. There’s a golden sheaf of wheat in the upper left corner, and a golden triangle in the bottom right. The sheaf references the county’s agricultural background — a symbol that many worried would be erased when Ball announced plans for a new flag.
Of the submissions, many include the county’s bird, an American goldfinch.
One design shows a deep-mustard yellow flag with a black goldfinch in the middle. The artist writes that the design symbolizes “freedom, aspiration, and the county’s rich natural heritage.”
“This thoughtful design aims to inspire future generations, reminding them of their potential to flourish and the importance of maintaining a connection with nature,” the artist said. “The flag serves as a beacon of hope and a symbol of the bright future that Howard County envisions for all its residents.”
Artists were asked to describe, in 250 words or less, their design choice, what it symbolizes and how it represents Howard County.
Many retain elements of the current flag: an outline of the county, the red-and-white bottony cross, and a sheaf of wheat.
While some designs were made on a computer and have crisp, sharp lines, others have a more artistic flair. Colors range from bright neon to more subdued hues.
“The design of a county flag is a once-in-a-generation process and the response to our call for designs was nothing short of inspiring,” Ball said in a statement. “Our community has a wide array of design options to evaluate as we seek additional public input. I encourage residents to stop by the Flag Commission’s upcoming public hearing to provide feedback on the future of our flag!”
West, who is also the executive director of the Howard County Arts Council, said choosing just 10 designs will be a huge task. The flag designs will be displayed around the hearing room so that commission members can view them.
The panel will gather public input at the hearing, then, commission members will make individual selections. West said designs will be grouped based on common elements, such as colors and symbolism.
The panel, West said, will “assign advocates and critics for each of the designs, so the advocates will defend the design strengths, and the critics will be pointing out the weaknesses, and we’ll be using our flag design guidelines that we posted to guide us in those conversations.”
She doesn’t know how many more meetings it will take to narrow down the options, but she has already scheduled at least two more in October.
The three design finalists will each receive an honorarium of $1,000 for their work, according to Ball’s press release.
“I want the strongest and best design possible based on our guidelines,” West said. “So for me, I just want it to represent the vision of Howard County.”
