Best City Flags
Steve Doorlag
In 2004 a nationwide “City Flag Survey” was conducted to find the best and worst flags of the United States.
Each flag was given a rating and ultimately got their ranking based on the best number.
With that said, we’ve compiled the top 20 flags as well as the 5 worst flags that were in the survey.
You may be surprised by one of the worst flags.
Let’s get right into it!
Top 20 City Flags In The United States
Washington D.C
Most known for being home of the president and white house, Washington D.C has come up with the number 1 city flag in America.
Their flag features a white background with two red stripes and 3 stars.
Shop This Flag: Washington D.C
Chicago
Being one of the largest cities in America, Chicago is known for their Chicago-style hotdogs, pizza, jazz, and extremely large buildings.
The flag contains a white background with 4 red stars between 2 blue stripes.
Shop This Flag: Chicago
Denver
Denver, also known as the mile-high city is known for it’s outdoors living and mountain ranges.
They also came up with the 3rd best flag which features red and white mountains white a blue background and yellow circle which represents the sun.
Shop This Flag: Denver
Phoenix
Phoenix is one of the largest cities in Arizona. They have some of the hottest temperatures in America as well as breathtaking views.
They have a very unique flag that has a purple background and a white phoenix emblem in the center.
Shop This Flag: Phoenix
St. Louis
St. Louis is a large city in Missouri. They’re most known for their baseball, beer, and the infamous “arch”.
Their flag is also very unique with a red background, and squiggly blue/white lines that meet near the center.
Shop This Flag: St. Louis
Wichita
Wichita is known ad the Air Capital Of the World. They are also home to the original Pizza Hut and White Castle food chains.
The Wichita flag has a white background with 3 triangles that meet at a blue sun that represents happiness and contentment.
Shop This Flag: Wichita
Portland
Known for being extremely hipster, portland is one of the more beautiful cities on the West coast.
The portland flag has 4 colors; Green, Gold, Blue, and White. With these colors, Douglas Lynch created a very unique flag thats still represents Portland to this day.
Shop This Flag: Portland
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the largest city in Indiana. They also hold one of the largest races in the world called the “Indy 500 Motor Race”
Their flag had 1 white/red star in the center with a white circle around it. There are also 4 separate quadrants of blue in each corner.
Shop This Flag: Indianapolis
Louisville
Louisville is known for being home to the legendary box Mohamad Ali, Kentucky Derby, KFC, and Lousiville Slugger baseball bats.
The Lousiville city flag features the colors blue, gold, and white stars. This was designed by William Glenn Hack.
Corpus Christi
With high wind speeds being very common, Corpus Christs is mosy known for their kiteboarding, windsurfing, kite flying, and sailing.
Their flag has a white seagull surrounded by 8 white stars on a blue background.
Madison
Madison is most known for an active lifestyle. They have over 260 parks and we’re even named one of the best cities in the nation for biking.
Madison is also home to one of the largest and best public universities in the United States in the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the collegiete baseball team the Madison Mallards.
Their flag consists of a light blue background that bisects the upper and lower head from lower left to upper right. This symbolizes lake Mendota and Monona.
Shop This Flag: Madison
Jackson
With high wind speeds being very common, Corpus Christs is mosy known for their kiteboarding, windsurfing, kite flying, and sailing.
Their flag has a white seagull surrounded by 8 white stars on a blue background.
San Antonio
San Antonio is the 7th most populated city in the United States. They have roughly 1.4 million people.
Their flag contains 2 vertical halves. The left side is blue and the right side is blue. In the center is a white star with its capital in the center.
Shop This Flag: San Antonio
Des Moines
Des Moines is the capital of Iowa and contains a wide variety of attractions for any visitors.
They easily have the most vibrant and unique flag. On the very left-hand side is a red shape and on the right side is 3 rows of 3 blue bumps with a white background.
Richmond
Being one of the original 13 colonies, Virginia holds a lot of our country’s history which brings a lot of history enthusiasts.
Their flag has 2 horizontal stripes on the bottom half and James River Bateau floating down the James River in the center. Surrounding his figure is multiple white stars.
New Orleans
New Orleans is a very art-driven city. They’re known for their music, festivals, Mardi gras, as well as their architecture.
Their flag has a white background with 3 gold fleurs-de-lis. On the top and bottom are 2 stripes the top is red and the bottom is navy blue.
Shop This Flag: New Orleans
Irving
Irving is one of the fastest-growing cities as well as the healthiest economies in the nation.
The colors red, white, and blue are tied into their flag. They all echo the state of Texas flag.
The large dot represents the civic center and the wavy lines on the flag represent highway 356.
Baltimore
New Orleans is a very art-driven city. They’re known for their music, festivals, Mardi gras, as well as their architecture.
Their flag has a white background with 3 gold fleurs-de-lis. On the top and bottom are 2 stripes the top is red and the bottom is navy blue.
Shop This Flag: Baltimore
Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs is at an elevation of 6,035 ft. It’s filled with stunning views as it’s apart of the Rocky Mountains.
The flag consists of a white background with a blue border. In the center, the left-hand side is a logo of a sun setting behind mountains.
Fremont
Fremont is known for its rail system. In the 1840s settlers came in and established a railroad system that lives on to this day.
The Fremont city flag resembles the US flag with alternating red and white flags. In the top left-hand corner is the blue square with an eagle and more stars.
Fremont is known for its rail system. In the 1840s settlers came in and established a railroad system that lives on to this day.
The Fremont city flag resembles the US flag with alternating red and white flags. In the top left-hand corner is the blue square with an eagle and more stars.
5 Worst City Flags
Mesa, AZ
Mesa was given one of the worst ranks, and this can be surprising as it’s a pretty large city located in Arizona.
Mesa is the 3rd largest city and is known for its stunning views and extremely hot temperatures.
Ellen Pence was a freelance designer who was behind the design of the Mesa city flag. The flag has only been displayed in the municipal building but hasn’t been flown outside.
Milwaukee, WI
Located on the shores of Lake Michigan, Milwaukee is known for its breweries and baseball.
Although Milwaukee is a great city, they could come up with the best city flag. This flag was designed by Fred Steffan and features many of the city’s history.
Rapid City, SD
Rapid City is best known for being the gateway to the black hills due to its location and the City of Presidents. This is because of the bronze, life-sized statues of the US presidents.
Their flag consisted of the words “State of the west, Rapid City, South Dakota” with the South Dakota seal below.
Huntington, WV
Huntington is best known for its commerce and heavy industry. They also benefit from the Ohio River and are home to the port of Huntington.
Keeping a simple design, Mike Steele put the Huntington seal on a white background.
Pocatello, ID
Pocatello was founded in 1889 and is best known for it’s “gateway to the Northwest”.
Rated as the worst flag in the nation, this flag features the colors red, yellow, and purple. They display their mountains as well as the words “Proud To Be Pocatello”.
Final Thoughts
All in all, the United State cities have created some of the best and worst flags. The good news for the bad flags is that a lot of them can simply just redo their flag.
It’s truly amazing the multiple different designs that have been created. Flags are a great way to not only mark territory but to display what the city is all about.
