Mountain’s Out: The Seattle Flag I Designed in 2019
In 2019, The Stranger asked Seattle for a better city flag. I sent one in. Here it is, with the 6 flags that inspired it.
A note from Lawrence
On July 15, 2019, I turned a two-slide PowerPoint deck into a PDF and sent it to The Stranger. The first slide was a flag. The second was everything I could think of to say about it. I called it “Mountain’s Out.” It didn’t make the finals, and nothing ever came of it. I’m still proud of it. Among my many unprofitable hobbies, I’m an amateur vexillologist, which means I hold opinions about flags that nobody requested.
The essay covers the flag Seattle already has, adopted in 1990 and built around a seal and lettering, which are two things vexillologists avoid. It also covers The Stranger’s People’s Flag contest, which drew more than 130 entries and ended in a ballot-stuffing scandal. Then I share what I sent in, lightly copyedited.
