TOLEDO, Ohio — The semifinalists in Toledo's flag design competition were announced Thursday, more than two years after the city announced it was considering changing the design.
Toledo's Arts Commission announced the final 10 contenders in a press release after opening up submissions earlier this year. The semifinalist designs will be presented at the Momentum Festival on Saturday and Sunday.
The Arts Commission will be open for public feedback on the designs between Sept. 20 and Oct. 4. After this, the commission will announce its final selection on Jan. 7, 2025, and then the city will have its new flag.
The semifinalists' designs are pictured below, each next to an artistic rendering of what the flag would look like on a flagpole.
The flags can also be viewed on the Art Commission's website here, where you can submit feedback.
Jacob Parr, who first pitched the idea of a new design to the city in August 2022, is included among the semifinalists. Although his design was met with enthusiasm, and council appeared ready to adopt it, the proposal was indefinitely put on hold when it was decided that more community input was needed.
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In April 2024, the city and Arts Commission said they would be accepting submissions from residents.
The flag’s original design was adopted in 1909 and featured blue fields on the left and right of the flag along with a symbol that represented Toledo’s first settlement, Fort Industry.
The flag’s first redesign happened in 1997 in honor of the city’s 160th anniversary. At that time, the Fort Industry symbol was replaced by the city seal. That design remains on the city’s flags to this day. It is pictured below:
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