Boise council hears plan for community‑led city flag redesign

The mayor and staff told the City Council that a community‑led effort will guide a redesign of the city flag that will be presented to the council for formal adoption after a public selection process.

Jen Haliburton, marketing and digital communications senior manager in the Office of Community Engagement, told the council the project is “more than just a redesign” and will pair the Department of Arts and History’s design expertise with broad community input. Haliburton said the city will launch a survey this week, accept resident design submissions, have a temporary 10‑member flag design committee narrow entries, and then return a final set of designs to the public for a vote. The council will review the chosen design for formal adoption.

The presentation included a brief history of the city’s graphics: the city seal (created in 1893) used for proclamations, the current flag adopted in 1989 that displays the city logo on a blue field, and a city mark introduced in 2016. Haliburton said the project seeks a modern, timeless design she described as “an expression of our collective identity” that residents can rally around.

Council members asked procedural and scope questions. Councilmember Nash asked whether staff or a contractor could “touch up” promising community submissions; Haliburton said submissions will vary (from paintings to children’s drawings) and the city expects to perform production‑quality polishing as needed. Councilmember Halligan asked whether the city logo would be changed; Haliburton responded the logo is not being replaced: the process is to design a flag separate from the existing logo. Halligan also asked about language access; Haliburton said surveys will be translated on request and the city will provide translations for respondents.

Haliburton said the Department of Arts and History will use community feedback and flag‑design principles to draft design guidelines and to prepare the public call for submissions. A temporary flag design committee will include the city’s creative services manager, representation from neighborhood associations, a state legislator, media and local business leaders to reflect a cross section of community perspectives. The final selection process will include community voting and a return to council for formal action.

The mayor and several council members expressed support for the project and for applying standard flag design principles (for example, avoiding lettering and seals), and encouraged broad participation. Haliburton stood for questions and said staff will post updates and results on the city website.

A timeline presented by staff indicates survey launch, public submissions, committee review, community voting and final presentation to council; staff said the committee and public steps are intended to be transparent and inclusive.

The council did not take formal action on this presentation; staff described the outreach and adoption steps that will follow.