Santa Cruz County Flag: Rainbow Vision Did you know that Santa Cruz County has an official flag? And not surprisingly, our flag is strikingly different from all the rest. It is clearly not a requirement for counties to have an official flag; of California’s 58 counties, only 20 have them. Nineteen of them look very official and governmenty. They have the counties name, and generally some seal-like image that promotes the regions local resources. But not Santa Cruz! No Santa Cruz went for the feeling. We have a redwood tree on top of a rainbow. That’s it. No text at all. Luckily, local historian Sandy Lydon presents some context for the county’s process (see his great website at sandylydon). Lydon was on the committee that contributed to the flags design and selection in the early 1980s. While, even he is unclear as to the motivation that went into the decision to create a Santa Cruz County flag, he does know a bit about how it was created. The committee solicited input for concept ideas from the local schools. They received primarily rainbows and sea lions and concluded they could not decide on a concrete image choice. The august committee then confessed its lack of inspiration, but did recommend to the Board of Supervisors that the new flag NOT include a rainbow. Lydon emphasizes this was in no way a comment on other uses of rainbow symbolism, such as by LGBT advocates. We were just sick to death of rainbows. Ed Penniman created the final flag and apparently, neither he nor the Board paid much heed to their own committee given that a rainbow is the cornerstone of the design. The final design was also reviewed by the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission, adopted by the Board and officially dedicated on July 4, 1983. At the dedication, Penniman explained his rationale: “The evergreen tree on the field of white strongly suggests nature and growth, for which the white background symbolizes a reverence. Below the trees, bands of colors-red, yellow, orange, blue and green—represent the five districts of the County and communicate a bold, positive stance. The overall theme, then, might be summarized as a reverence for nature and growth, upheld by a foundation of optimism and unity.” I think the flags design was sort of a telegraph into the future of green marketing and ecotourism... Read the rest HERE: bit.ly/1tJSQNx Like the content? Its by Mobile Ranger. Please like our Facebook page and check out our mobile AppTours about the natural and human history of Santa Cruz. One of which is free! mobileranger.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 16:00:00 +0000
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