Tom Bamberger
In Public

Does “People’s Flag” Need New Colors?

Changing the mustard-yellow sky would make it pop more.

By - Nov 19th, 2018 12:48 pm

I didn’t like the proposed Milwaukee flag designed by Robert Lenz. Then a neighbor painted a black-and-white version of it on a building, which looked pretty good to me.

Balck and white People's Flag mural taken from back porch. Photo by Tom Bamberger.

At first, I didn’t realize it was an iteration of the Milwaukee flag that hangs outside this house a few blocks away. That flag looks looks muddy to me. Colors are muted and indecisive. Feels beige.

People's Flag of Milwaukee. Photo by Tom Bamberger.

The color is the problem. It just doesn’t seem like a flag that is intended to declare and stand out rather the recede into the landscape.

So I mocked up different color schemes for the flag. Here are five alternatives that brighten and clarify the original design (the mustard-colored one in the middle of the second row).

People's Flag color study. Image by Tom Bamberger.

I am not saying these alternatives are right, are the ultimate solution for a new Milwaukee flag. But since the flag continues to be under review, most lately with a recommendation by the city Arts Board to create a new design contest for a flag, we are getting a lot of discussion of what’s the right way to go for Milwaukee.

So here’s a thought to consider: Whatever flag is chosen should be exuberant and pop at a distance. And if this design by Lenz is to be our flag, the colors should be less subdued.

More about the People's Flag of Milwaukee

Read more about People's Flag of Milwaukee here

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