cleveland flag

On March 1, 1803, Ohio became the 17th state to join the United States of America. The sixth Cleveland flag redesign celebrates the city in patriotic style. The flag design uses the red, white and blue colors and the stars and stripes motif from the United States of America flag and the Ohio flag. The similarity connects the three flags as country, state and city, but allows for each to possess a unique identity.

The Cleveland flag redesign has 17 white stars, 16 of which form a circle. Each star hold a unique meaning for the city. The first star at the top is is for Lake Erie, which forms Cleveland’s northern border. Moving clockwise, the second star is for the region’s greenspaces, which, in the 1840s, earned Cleveland the nickname the Forest City. The third is for steel, which made Cleveland an industrial powerhouse in the first half of the twentieth century. The fourth is for the invention of the Brush electric light that illuminated Public Square, the first outdoor space in the United States to be lit. The fifth star on the right of the circle is for Cleveland’s east side. The sixth is for the 1913 establishment of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The seventh star is for the 1918 founding of the Cleveland Orchestra. The eighth star is for health care and the 1921 founding of the world renowned Cleveland Clinic. The ninth, at the circle’s bottom, is for the Cuyahoga River, which approaches the city from the south and empties into Lake Erie. The tenth star is for Cleveland’s manufacturing industry. The eleventh is for the Great Lakes Exposition of 1936 and 1937. The twelfth is for education. The thirteenth star on the circle’s left is for Cleveland’s west side. The fourteenth is for Public Square and the Terminal Tower, at the heart of downtown Cleveland. Created in 1933 by Clevelanders Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the fifteenth star is for Superman. The sixteenth star is for rock ‘n’ roll and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, founded in 1983.

The seventeenth star is apart from the other stars in the flag’s upper hoist side. It stands for generations of people who call Cleveland home. More than any historical accomplishment or natural resource, its the people that make a city great. Cleveland has great people.

Together, the 17 stars stand for Ohio’s place in the Union, but also one for each of Cleveland’s wards.

The flag’s blue field is for loyalty; the red stripes are for pride. The white stripe is for the city’s future.

This Cleveland flag redesign is built on a 1:7 grid. Compare this new Cleveland flag other Ohio city flags.