The city launched a campaign to come up with a new flag design last April and the initiative resulted in 215 proposals from 158 artists. That has been narrowed to 10, with additional variations put forward based on those finalists. Now it’s up to the Ogden City Council to pick the final three contenders or seek additional ideas.

“After the top three designs are selected, the council will decide how to proceed. The next steps beyond that point will depend on whether or not further variations will be requested by the council,” said Brandon Garside, spokesperson for the City Council.

The City Council, which discussed the matter at its meeting last Tuesday, will have ultimate say, he said, with no firm timeline established to complete the process. “The focus is selecting a design that will stand as a longtime symbol and representation of Ogden and its identity,” Garside said.

The final contenders have varying looks, though many feature the color blue and several have representations of mountains, a nod to the Wasatch Front. Some incorporate trains and the railroad, central to the city’s development.

Photo supplied, Ogden City Council

Details and images of each, including explanations of their symbolism, are included in the packet from last Tuesday’s City Council work session, available at bit.ly/3RSgsSl.

Ogden is the only city among the 10 largest in Utah without a flag, Garside said. An earlier city banner featuring diagonal yellow stripes and a representation of a golden spike in the middle, evoking the joining on the Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit in 1869, has fallen into disuse. “It’s an eyesore,” Garside said.

The Ogden Youth City Council, made up of students from Ogden, helped in the process, narrowing the original 215 submissions to 105. A committee made up of reps from the City Council, Ogden’s arts and tourism communities and others narrowed those 105 to the finalists.

“As always, residents are always welcome to reach out to the Council regarding this or any issue via email at citycouncil@ogdencity.com or by calling our office at 801-629-8153,” Garside said in an email to the Standard-Examiner.

Utah lawmakers are considering adoption of a new state flag, outlined in Senate Bill 31. The proposed tri-color banner, which emerged late last year, is blue on top, white in the middle and red on the bottom, with a yellow beehive within a blue hexagon in the middle.

Some have balked at the design, though S.B. 31 passed on an 18-10 vote in the Utah Senate on Jan. 30. Now that measure goes to the Utah House for consideration.

The artist who submitted the winning flag design was originally to have received a $1,000 award, though the City Council is now considering divvying the money among the artists responsible for creating any of the three flag finalists.