Milwaukee

Milwaukee
Country	United States
State	Wisconsin
Adopted	September 21, 1954
Designed by	Fred Steffan

The flag of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a blue background with the city skyline over a lake, with a red boat. At the back of the skyline is a gear with various symbols inside. At the hoist, is a wheat stalk. At the fly, is the word "1846". At the bottom is the city's name.

Symbolism

The name Milwaukee and the city skyline represents the city. The water represents its water border of Lake Michigan.

The gear behind City Hall represents the industry of the city. The symbols inside the gear represent the city's Indian origin, its' manufacturing, military service and culture.

The red boat represents the city's stature as a port for the Great Lakes. Next to the boat is a house, a church, and a school.

The stylized baseball stadium at the skyline was Milwaukee County Stadium. Next to it is Milwaukee Arena (now known as UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena). Next to that is City Hall, which is next to the factory, once again, because it represents industry.

The golden wheat stalk represents the city's long history and well-known industry of beer. 1846 is the year the city was founded.

Former Flags

1927-1954 (Flag usage rights handed to the Milwaukee Police Department only)

1954-present

The People's Flag

The proposed flag of Milwaukee, known as "The People's Flag" or "The Sunrise Over the Lake" is divided between gold with a half-white circle, and dark blue with the other half of the light blue circle divided into three stripes. It was designed by Robert Lenz, and was unveiled on June 14, 2016, and it's still fighting for official adoption to this day.

Symbolism

The gold represents its' rich brewing history, the half-circle represents the sun rising over the horizon of Lake Michigan, and its' colored white representing peace and unity, the three stripes of the circle represent the city's three founders and the city's three rivers, and the dark blue, Lake Michigan itself.

History

On July 19, 2018, the Milwaukee Common Council's Steering and Rules Committee took up a proposal to designate the People's Flag of Milwaukee as the city's new official flag. That committee voted 6-2 to revisit the proposal at another meeting by the end of the year. In November of that year, the City of Milwaukee's Arts Board said the original search for a new flag was not inclusive enough, as at least one Milwaukee politician charged that the process had not made enough efforts to include individuals without internet access, and that the flag may go back to the drawing board.

In July 2024, the Milwaukee Common Council decided to revisit the issue, with District 11 Alderman Peter Burgelis introducing a resolution to formally adopt the People's Flag as the official flag of Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Common Council's Steering and Rules Committee voted 5-3 on September 9, 2024 to send the proposal to the Common Council.

City Hall version, introduced by Robert Bauman

On September 19, 2024, District 4 Alderman Robert Bauman introduced a substitute resolution that would add an image of the City Hall to the flag. It was voted down 3-12 at the September 24 Common Council meeting.

On September 24, 2024, the Milwaukee Common Council voted 7-8 to not adopt the flag yet, delaying it for the next council meeting on October 15, 2024.

At the October 15 meeting, Alderman Burgelis introduced an idea of allowing the flag to be put to a binding referendum in April 2025, but it was uncertain whether the city was legally allowed to do so without changing the city charter. Burgelis later withdrew his referendum idea, and the council voted to delay it again.

On November 6, 2024, the Milwaukee Common Council unanimously voted to send the proposal back to the Steering & Rules Committee.