Meet Milwaukee’s Flag Task Force

Ald. Robert Bauman’s 2024 flag proposal.

Milwaukee’s nearly decade-long pursuit of a new city flag took a step forward Tuesday.

The members of a task responsible for hosting a design contest and forwarding to the Common Council up to 10 flags in ranked order were named.

Mayor Cavalier Johnson appointed Visit Milwaukee creative team leader Marisol Acevedo, Alice’s Garden executive director Venice Williams and city budget director Nik Kovac to his three seats. Common Council President José G. Pérez appointed historian John Gurda, Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative Executive Director Kevin Kuschel and Walker’s Point Center for the Arts Executive Director and former school board member Marcela Garcia. Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs, the Milwaukee Arts Board Chair, made only two appointments: Milwaukee Public Library Foundation Director of Philanthropy Antoine Carter and Glyph Global Creative founder Ebony Ssali.

Johnson is appointing Williams to serve as the chair.

“I’m thrilled to see such a passionate, creative, and Milwaukee-rooted team stepping up to lead this important civic process,” said Alderman Peter Burgelis in a press release. “The City Flag Task Force will be evaluating submissions and ultimately helping us select a design that speaks to who we are as a city, where we’ve been, and where we’re going. I encourage residents to stay engaged and take part in this exciting opportunity to help shape Milwaukee’s identity.”

The members, according to a resolution passed last Tuesday, have four months to complete their work. The task force, according to a press release, is expected to begin meeting this month.

“This is a moment of civic imagination and unity,” said Burgelis, who is leading his second push to adopt a new flag. “With leadership from these thoughtful, community-minded individuals, I’m confident we’ll arrive at a flag that reflects the Milwaukee we all know and love—and the one we’re working to build.”

The task force has received no financial allocation beyond staff time from the City Clerk‘s office.

The Common Council would receive the rankings from the task force and need to take action on a flag of its choice to replace the city’s 1950s-era flag. Getting a new flag through the council has proven tricky in the past decade, even as almost every member has turned over.

A 2016 design contest resulted in Robert Lenz‘s “Sunrise Over the Lake” entry being selected as the winner and becoming the People’s Flag, which is widely adopted in certain areas of the city. But the perceived racial-equity-related limitations of the design contest, which drew more than 1,000 entries and unofficial support from the city, have bogged down the flag’s formal adoption. Prior efforts to adopt the People’s Flag, in 2018 and 2024, were unsuccessful.

Is the third time the charm? The current flag’s 1954 adoption was the result of a 12-year process. Burgelis would like to wrap up the current process in time for the city’s 180th birthday, Jan. 31.