Why Seattle's flag deserves a redesign
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A flag designed by the North American Vexillological Association for its October 2025, meeting in Seattle. Illustration: Courtesy of the North American Vexillological Association
As Seattle prepares to host the FIFA World Cup in 2026, flag experts say it's time for an upgrade to the city's official flag.
Why it matters: A good flag provides "an instant touchstone of pride, love and connection," said Bradley Lockhart, a graphic designer who designed Bellingham's flag.
- "It says we love where we live and we feel it's special," he told Axios. "Once we have a good flag, we can't put it down."
Catch up quick: Seattle's turquoise and white flag — featuring a profile of Chief Sealth surrounded by swirling currents and the words "City of Goodwill" and "Seattle" — never became popular and has, in fact, been the subject of mockery, a former city council member wrote in 2019.
- Only three copies of the flag, which was adopted in 1990 as the city was set to host the Goodwill Games, were made, according to the City of Seattle.
Context: Seattle's current flag fails two of five key flag principles, Ted Kaye, secretary of the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) and an unapologetic vexillonnaire, told Axios. It's too complex and it shouldn't have lettering.
- A good flag should be so simple a child can draw it from memory, use only two or three basic colors, feature meaningful symbolism and should not have lettering or seals, Kaye explains in "Good Flag, Bad Flag."
- Because the city is named for Chief Sealth, the stylized image of his face is not a bad choice, but the Space Needle is "the only universally recognized symbol of Seattle that someone from a distance would know."
- That's the symbol used in the flag designed by NAVA for its meeting in Seattle next year, he said.
Fun fact: In addition to a more serious Seattle flag design, Lockhart said, he created one with an orca's face that has been selling like hotcakes, was adopted by the Yacht Flippers, a Kraken Hockey League team, and is displayed in bars and restaurants throughout the city.
State of play: In the years since Roman Mars gave a TED Talks on city flags (which has been watched more than 7 million times), Spokane and Enumclaw got new ones and Bellingham adopted its first.
The bottom line: Seattle will know it's got it right when its flag is ubiquitous, said Kaye.
- "Chicago and D.C. have great flags and they're everywhere, even tattoos."