Yep, Milwaukee is creating a task force to come up with a new city flag

It’s official: It’s happening again. Oh god, it’s happening again.

On Tuesday, the Milwaukee Common Council approved the creation of a nine-member task force that will oversee an effort to design and approve a new Milwaukee city flag. The Milwaukee City Flag Task Force will be “charged with managing a community-driven campaign to solicit, evaluate, and recommend new flag designs.” The Common Council will then vote on the task force’s recommended flag design by the end of 2025.

So, to be clear: Milwaukee currently has an official flag that was adopted in 1954:

It also has the so-called “People’s Flag of Milwaukee,” which was the result of a 2016 grassroots design contest, and which has been proposed as an official replacement for the ’50s-era flag since 2018:

And now there’s the Milwaukee City Flag Task Force, which will come up with a possible third flag design. Maybe it’ll be the “People’s Flag,” or maybe not. Probably not. It’ll be a third design, won’t it? Oh god.

Ald. Peter Burgelis formally introduced the idea of a flag task force last week.

“Milwaukee is a great city and deserves a great flag, and a process where everyone has the opportunity to participate,” Burgelis said in a press release last week. “Though I suspect there will be many duplicate submissions, I hope that all of the design finalists will reflect our city today along with our culture, our future, and our shared Milwaukee pride. This task force is the first step in building a flag that resonates with all Milwaukeeans ahead of the city’s 180th anniversary in 2026.”

In 2024, Burgelis attempted to simply replace the ’50s-era flag with the “People’s Flag.” But longstanding questions of inclusion and diversity in the original “People’s Flag” contest snuffed out the issue. Again.

The new task force will include three members appointed by the Mayor, three members appointed by the Common Council President, and three members appointed by the Chair of the Milwaukee Arts Board. Mayor Cavalier Johnson has already signaled his support of the task force.

“The City of Milwaukee deserves a flag that is unique, unifying and aesthetically appealing. I am eager to see the recommendations that emerge from the Milwaukee City Flag Task Force,” Johnson said in the press release last week. “I appreciate the efforts of Alderman Burgelis and the other sponsors of this resolution, and I am optimistic Milwaukee will have a fitting flag approved soon.”

As for the details of submissions and voting, the press release explains:

The resolution directs the Milwaukee City Flag Task Force to collaborate with city departments including the Department of Administration – Information Technology Management Division and the Milwaukee Public Library to ensure both online and in-person design submissions are accessible to all residents. The task force will evaluate and rank up to 10 finalist flag designs using modern vexillological standards and strong local symbolism.

Tuesday’s vote on the creation of the task force passed with 12 ayes, two excused, and one abstained. Ald. Scott Spiker abstained.

“The only thing I’ve heard from my residents is they don’t want to go over this again,” Spiker said. “No disrespect intended to the sponsor or to any of the other sponsors […] but my residents have said loud and clear they want me to move on.”

Ald. DiAndre Jackson also expressed his frustration with the never-ending flag debate.

“Just for the record, my community has real problems, and this is not on the top of my priorities,” Jackson said. “It never comes up in conversation, at all.”

But several alders were defensive about the idea that the Common Council might have more important things to do than discuss the flag. Again. And again. And again. For 10 years.

“Today alone, on our agenda, we will have dealt with 76 different items. This is one of 76, on this one day,” Ald. Milele A. Coggs said. “As we deal with the flag in the days to come, there are hundreds and hundreds of other serious issues that we will also deal with. I believe that my colleagues and I are wise enough to work alongside community, to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. Our attention to the flag and what it means to the city in the future does not take away attention from all the other very serious issues that we as a city are facing.”

“We are a professional legislature,” echoed Ald. Alex Brower. “We have the capacity here in this body, because we are charged by our citizenry to work full-time, that we can discuss multiple topics and items, and be considering many things.”

Brower also took a shot at the Milwaukee subreddit, of all things, which always loses it shit over the flag and typically derides the Council for not simply adopting the “People’s Flag.”

“Reddit is going insane right now. They always are,” Brower said. “So I challenge anybody who’s hiding behind a username on Reddit to actually join a movement, say something publicly, and consider running for office and be part of the conversation, besides just hiding behind a computer screen.”

The issue of updating and replacing Milwaukee’s city flag goes back a decade. In 2015, inspired by a TED Talk in which podcast host Roman Mars called the official Milwaukee flag one of the worst in the country, Milwaukee graphic designer Steve Kodis and others spearheaded a grassroots contest to come up with a new flag. In June 2016, following a 1,000-entry design contest, Robert Lenz’s “Sunrise Over The Lake” was chosen by online voters.

The symbol was soon embraced by much of Milwaukee, appearing on everything from shirts and stickers to bikes and beer. In July 2018, “People’s Flag” organizers made a presentation to the Common Council seeking official adoption of the flag. The presentation began well but was effectively shut down when various alders raised concerns about the non-inclusive nature of the contest. Further discussion—and the question of whether Milwaukee actually needed a new flag—was punted to the Milwaukee Arts Board.

In the fall and winter of 2018, following another presentation from “People’s Flag” organizers, the Milwaukee Arts Board determined that a new flag was indeed needed, and that the “People’s Flag” contest was indeed non-inclusive. The Board recommended that a request for proposal (RFP) be set up to come up with a new, official Milwaukee flag. On April 25, 2019, the Steering and Rules Committee approved a resolution to create a new process to come up with an official city flag. That effort stalled, however, thanks in part to the COVID-19 pandemic.