View source for Flag of Seattle

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{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Original research|date=July 2022}}
{{Unreliable sources|date=July 2022}}}}
{{Infobox flag
| Name = Seattle
| Image = Flag of Seattle.svg
| Alt = 
| Nickname = 
| Proportion = 11:15<ref name="NAVA">{{cite journal |last1=Purcell |first1=John M. |last2=Croft |first2=James A. |last3=Monahan |first3=Rich |year=2003 |title=American City Flags: 150 Flags from Akron to Yonkers |pages=329–332 |journal=Raven: A Journal of Vexillology |volume=9 |publisher=[[North American Vexillological Association]] |isbn=0-97477-28-0-1 |oclc=644269600 |url=https://nava.org/digital-library/raven/Raven_v09-10_2002-2003_p297-341_S.pdf |access-date=July 10, 2019}}</ref>
| Adoption = July 16, 1990<ref name="CouncilRes28207">{{cite web |author=Seattle City Council |date=July 16, 1990 |title=City of Seattle Ordinance 28207 |url=http://clerk.seattle.gov/~scripts/nph-brs.exe?s1=&s3=28207&s2=&s4=&Sect4=AND&l=200&Sect2=THESON&Sect3=PLURON&Sect5=RESNY&Sect6=HITOFF&d=RESF&p=1&u=%2F~public%2Fresny.htm&r=1&f=G |work=City of Seattle Legislative Information Service |publisher=Office of the City Clerk |access-date=April 10, 2015|author-link=Seattle City Council }}</ref>
| Design = 
| Designer = David Wright}}

The municipal flag of [[Seattle]] is teal and white, featuring the [[Seattle]] city logo (a portrait of [[Chief Seattle]] surrounded by two lines), with the words "City of Goodwill" above and "Seattle" below.

The flag was designed by architect David Wright and endorsed by [[Seattle City Council]]member Paul Kraabel.<ref>{{cite news |last=Godden |first=Jean |date=August 3, 1990 |title=Seattle's the city of goodwill and has a flag to prove it |page=B1 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref> It was adopted on July 16, 1990, for use during the [[Goodwill Games]].<ref name="CouncilRes28207"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Frantilla |first=Anne |title=Guide to the Paul Kraabel Subject Files |url=http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv58834 |publisher=[[Northwest Digital Archives]] |access-date=April 11, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Seattle City Symbols |url=http://www.seattle.gov/cityarchives/seattle-facts/city-symbols |publisher=[[Seattle Municipal Archives]] |access-date=April 10, 2015}}</ref>

The flag has been criticized for breaking conventional rules for good flag design, particularly its complex design that incorporates the city seal.<ref>{{cite news |last=Clarridge |first=Christine |date=June 14, 2019 |title=Is Seattle's flag the worst? Or the 30th best? You tell us |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/is-seattles-flag-the-worst-or-the-30th-best-you-tell-us/ |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=June 14, 2019}}</ref>

Proposals to redesign the flag were solicited in 2019 by ''[[The Seattle Times]]'' and ''[[The Stranger (newspaper)|The Stranger]]'', with the latter running a public poll.<ref>{{cite news |last=Clarridge |first=Christine |date=July 7, 2019 |title=Last month, we asked readers what Seattle's city flag should look like. Here's what you came up with. |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/orcas-chief-sealth-and-needles-readers-offer-their-ideas-for-seattles-city-flag/ |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=January 21, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Burns |first=Chase |date=August 5, 2019 |title=Hey Seattle, Vote for Your New City Flag! |url=https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/08/05/40965554/hey-seattle-vote-for-your-new-city-flag |work=The Stranger |access-date=January 21, 2020}}</ref>

==Symbolism==
Council resolution 28207 states that the color of the Flag of Seattle "shall be white and teal blue/green (the color of [[Puget Sound]] at dusk)."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Seattle City Council |date=July 16, 1990 |title="Resolution 28207" |url=http://clerk.seattle.gov/~archives/Resolutions/Resn_28207.pdf |website=Seattle Municipal Archives}}</ref>

== Controversy over the use of Chief Seattle as a logo ==

On August 6, 2021, the Sauk-Suiattle tribe called on the mayor and the City Council to live up to the legacy of Chief Seattle and help restore the region's salmon supply by allowing for fish passage through 3 dams managed by Seattle City Light or cease to use his likeness. In their open letter they state:<blockquote>"Sealth, or Chief Seattle, was a person known for his integrity. He believed there was no separation between people and nature. In tribal culture, the bestowal of a name carries with it a duty to live up to that name. City of Seattle, live up to the values of your namesake, or cease bearing his image as the Great Seal of the City of Seattle."<ref>{{Cite web |title=DocumentCloud |url=https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21071195-letter-seattle-city-leadersseal |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=www.documentcloud.org}}</ref></blockquote>As of September 28, 2021, the Sauk-Suiattle tribe had not heard back from the mayor or any of the City Council members.

The tribe says that the lack of response is especially insulting given the city's support for other tribes out of state, including the Standing Rock Sioux. In 2016 the mayor signed a declaration of support over the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy. Jack Fiander, the legal counsel for the Sauk-Suiattle tribe goes on to state:<blockquote>"When it's easy, when it's not in your back yard Seattle, you will support the Standing Rock people, you will call for the removal of Snake River dams; but you have three dams in our territory that don't have fish passage while these fish are going extinct."<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 28, 2021 |title=Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe demands city stop using Chief Seattle on its logo |url=https://www.king5.com/article/news/investigations/sauk-suiattle-indian-tribe-demands-city-stop-using-chief-seattle-on-its-logo/281-7c28af7b-6e82-49ca-98f8-c7634b83bd70 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=king5.com |language=en-US}}</ref></blockquote>

== Alternative proposal ==
{{COI|section|talk=talk page section|date=July 2022}}
In May 2022 the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture awarded a non-profit named Seattle City Flag grant funding to begin piloting their contemporary city flag for Seattle in coffee shops across the city.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Supporters |url=https://www.seattleflag.org/supporters |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Seattle Flag |language=en-US}}</ref> The contemporary design aligns the flag of Seattle with the original symbol used during the Goodwill Games, a design which the officially adopted flag is inspired by.<ref>{{Cite web |title=POSTSCRIPTS - A COUPLE OF COLUMN FOLLOW-UPS: LOOKING FOR A ROCK - AND A FLAG |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/user/login?destination=document-view%3Fp%3DWORLDNEWS%26docref%3Dnews/0EB53412E1494ACC%26f%3Dbasic |access-date=2022-07-15 |website=infoweb.newsbank.com}}</ref>

=== Symbolism ===
Keeping the colors, the contemporary design's teal represents the colors of Puget Sound at dusk, and the white represent the mountains wrapping around the city. Each wave is designated to represent an inclusive and diverse history / cultural event from Seattle's past.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Symbolism |url=https://www.seattleflag.org/seattle-flag-symbolism |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Seattle Flag |language=en-US}}</ref>

The interconnection of each wave represents "the future well-being, if not survival of all citizens, is dependent upon our recognition of common bonds and shared responsibilities", also from the original resolution.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ridl |first=Jackson |date=2022-03-21 |title=Why I Needed to Redesign Seattle's City Flag |url=https://jacksonridl.medium.com/why-i-needed-to-redesign-seattles-city-flag-52dc62c1b9d9 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Medium |language=en}}</ref>

=== History ===
The symbol on the flag is the original design used to represent the Seattle Goodwill Games.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Banner for the Seattle Goodwill Games, 1990 |url=https://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/digital/collection/imlsmohai/id/14504/rec/1 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu |language=en}}</ref> The Games began on July 20, 1990, and after the Games ended, the Seattle Organizing Committee for the Goodwill Games no longer continued use of the design. On October 7, 1996, the design's trademark registration lapsed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=USPTO |title=Seattle Goodwill Games Organizing Committee Trademark Registration |url=https://uspto.report/TM/73802863 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=USPTO.report |language=en}}</ref>

The design was used throughout the competition to reference the event with multiple uses from hats, pins, flags, shirts, and even in the middle of the field at the University of Washington Husky Stadium where events were held.<ref>{{Citation |title=1990 Goodwill Games Opening Ceremony - Marching Band - Seattle |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgzE-q4dMl4 |language=en |access-date=2022-07-12}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Seal of Seattle]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{SeattleWA}}
{{Flags of cities in the United States}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seattle, Flag Of}}
[[Category:Green and white flags]]
[[Category:Government of Seattle|Flag]]
[[Category:Flags of cities in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Native Americans in art]]
[[Category:1990 establishments in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Flags introduced in 1990]]
[[Category:Native American history of Washington (state)]]