👋 Nick here.

As a proud San Franciscan, I've longed to enjoy our city's flag more than I do. But something about it just seems off to me.

• And apparently, I'm not alone.

Driving the news: Prominent podcaster Roman Mars gave a TED Talk in 2015 that identified issues with San Francisco's flag based on some generally accepted design principles.

• To start, our flag includes lots of lettering (the city's motto and name), which Mars said is among the "the big no-nos."
• Also, the phoenix at its center goes against the idea of keeping the composition simple.
• Still, it does provide meaningful symbolism — representing San Francisco's recovery from a series of earthquakes and fires in the 1800s — which, according to the principles, is important for any flag.

Mars had plans to launch a competition to redesign San Francisco's flag, but by 2017, the project fizzled out.

Yes, but: There's a longtime San Francisco resident named Brian Stokle, who's keeping the dream of changing the flag alive.

• After Mars' talk, Stokle began seriously tinkering with his designs.
• By 2019, he settled on what he calls the "San Francisco Fog & Gold Flag," which keeps the phoenix, adding a gray stripe and gold stripe.

Details: Stokle told me his phoenix is traced from an image of San Francisco's original, 1900 flag with some "minor edits." Namely, he said, he "made the eye of the bird a little less mean."

• As for the symbolism, Stokle said the gray can stand for fog and the gold — the city’s connections to the gold rush.
• But there can be many different explanations for the colors, he noted, and the phoenix's meaning of rebirth and resilience isn't limited to the idea of rebuilding after a major fire. It can be about "a city that's hit hard times and redefines itself," he said.

By the numbers: To date, Stokle has sold about 400 flags, including 250 of his classically sized 3-foot by 5-foot option.

• The first time he saw one flying in the city — outside a residence on San Jose Avenue — he said he had "a mental tear in [his] eye."

Why it matters: A flag that resonates with its residents can inspire civic pride.

• "It's not just a nice thing to have," Stokle said. "It can fortify and strengthen our communal essence."

Zoom out ... What's next

More job hunters are looking for work that pays $20 an hour, surpassing searches for $15 an hour, Axios' Emily Peck reports.

Why it matters: It's a sign of how inflation and a labor shortage pushed wages up faster than anyone could have imagined a decade ago, when Fight for $15, a union-led push to organize fast-food workers, launched.

Case in point: In California, fast-food workers could soon start earning as much as $22 an hour, after a bill meant to improve conditions in the industry passed the state's Senate onMonday. The bill is headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk — but he hasn't said whether he will sign it, the New York Times reports.

Zoom in: San Francisco's minimum wage is $16.99 an hour, while California's is $15 for employers with 26 or more employees, and $14 an hour for businesses with 25 or fewer employees.

The bottom line: Whether or not a $20 minimum wage materializes, job searchers are increasingly expecting more than $15 per hour.

🚕 Uber will start allowing riders to hail Flywheel taxis on its app beginning next month. (San Francisco Standard)

🦠 SF's Department of Public Health said it is now referring to the monkeypox virus as MPX, pronounced "em-pox," to "avoid stigma."

• MPX infection rates are slowing in SF. There was a total of 711 cases of MPX in the city as of Aug. 29, per the SFDPH.

👀 Leanna Louie, who was until recently running for SF District 4 supervisor, filed a lawsuit in light of her removal from the ballot.

• Earlier this week, the city attorney's office determined Louie could not adequately prove that she lives in the district in which she was running. (San Francisco Chronicle)

🤨 A panel of NBA coaches, scouts and executives thinks the Los Angeles Clippers and the Phoenix Suns have a better chance of winning the Western Conference Finals this season than our precious Warriors. (ESPN)

The iconic Bushman has returned to Fisherman's Wharf.

Yes, but: This Bushman, Cory Barnette, is new to the role, SFGATE reports.

State of play: The Bushman first came on the scene in the late 1990s. The gimmick entails hiding behind a bush, jumping out toward unsuspecting pedestrians and yelling "ugga bugga."

• Flashback: There was some drama dating back to 2009 between two street performers about who the true originator of the Bushman was. One died in 2014, and the other stopped performing in 2019.
• Newcomer Barnette set up shop on Fisherman's Wharf earlier this month with the hopes of "trying to get a laugh or a smile, and bring people together."

What we're watching: Barnette plans to monetize the Bushman, via YouTube videos.

• One video had 27,000 views at the time of publication.

Share this story

🍃 Turn over a new leaf with our Job Board.

1. Senior Manager, Leadership Communications Genentech Citizenship & Engagement at Genentech.
2. Global Head of Corporate Communications at ByteDance.
3. Senior Manager, Global Brand and Small Business Communications at VISA.

Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board.

Hiring? Post a job.