Proposal Asks City to Adopt ‘People’s Flag’

People’s Flag of Milwaukee. Photo from www.milwaukeeflag.com.

The Milwaukee Common Council will try again to adopt the People’s Flag, a widely used 2016 flag, as the City of Milwaukee’s official flag and dump its current flag, which has been derided as the worst city flag in America

But unlike the last try, which ran from 2018 to 2019 and was met with derision by some council members, an entirely new process is proposed by an almost entirely new council.

Alderman Peter Burgelis, first elected in April, is proposing the city formally adopt Robert Lenz‘ design “Sunrise Over the Lake,” commonly known as the People’s Flag,” on Jan. 31, 2025, the city’s 179th birthday.

The current flag, the creation of then-Alderman Fred Steffan, was adopted in 1955 after merging elements from a variety of design contest entries into a single flag.

The Milwaukee Arts Board, in 2018, voted to recommend the city adopt a new flag, in part because of the depiction of a Native American head in war dress on the current flag. The warrior is believed to be a representation of the then-Milwaukee Braves professional baseball team.

“Although beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I believe the 1955 city flag is a great snapshot in time of Milwaukee’s history in the 1950s, but now carries little relevance. It doesn’t speak to our values and doesn’t convey our dynamic Cream City spirit,” said Burgelis in introducing his proposal.

Lenz won a grassroots 2016 design contest, decided by an online vote, with more than 1,000 entries to create a new city flag. But despite support from then-Council President Ashanti Hamilton and then-mayor Tom Barrett, it was never formally adopted. In 2018, the Milwaukee Arts Board ultimately stopped short of recommending the Lenz flag be adopted and said it had concerns with the inclusivity of the process used to select it.

A council-approved request for qualifications in 2019 to design a new flag drew no formal responses. The council never again debated the issue, which was expected to include a six-figure funding request.

But Burgelis said the community has voted through its actions to embrace it.

“The winning design from the grassroots People’s Flag competition, ‘Sunrise Over the Lake,’ has been since been organically adopted and is widely used by Milwaukeeans on homes, businesses, and local products in every ZIP Code and neighborhood in Milwaukee,” said Burgelis in a press release. “The design has, in my view, intrinsic beauty and timeless meaning that represents the core of Milwaukee- where we came from- three founding towns, what we are- comprised of three rivers and where we want to be- dawn rising over Lake Michigan for the growth and prosperity of our city, its residents, and businesses. This Flag reminds us of what has drawn human beings to the ‘Good Land’ for thousands of years – Lake Michigan’s beauty and bounty.”

Since being elected, Burgelis has displayed the People’s Flag, along the U.S., Latvian and Ukrainian flags, at his council desk during each meeting.

His proposal would initiate a community outreach process that would last through the summer. “The intent is to then bring the file back to the Council legislative cycle in September,” said the alderman.

Only four council members remain from the 2018 debate, José G. Pérez, Robert Bauman, Milele A. Coggs and Russell W. Stamper, II.

Mayor Cavalier Johnson, then an alderman, was a co-sponsor of the 2018 initiative to make the People’s Flag official.

The city has been trying for decades to replace its flag. A 2001 process resulted in 105 submissions for a new flag, but the arts board rejected all of them.

If the People’s Flag becomes the official flag, the costs of implementation could be minimal. Replacing all of the city-owned flags would cost $3,000, according to a 2019 Legislative Reference Bureau report. The flag also appears on all Department of Public Works vehicles, but could be replaced at no additional cost as the vehicles are replaced.

1955 Milwaukee Flag

Urban Milwaukee’s sister business, Urban Milwaukee: The Store, sells merchandise bearing both the current flag and People’s Flag.