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Spokane, capital of the Inland Empire and Washington鈥檚 second most populous city, to come up with a new design for its city flag.

奥丑补迟鈥檚 was incorporated in Washington Territory in 1881 as 鈥淪pokan Falls,鈥� named for the water feature located there in the Spokane River. In 1883, an 鈥渆鈥� was added to make it 鈥淪pokane Falls鈥� 鈥� and to forever confuse distant pronouncers 鈥� and then 鈥淔alls鈥� was dropped in 1891.

Indigenous people of what became had inhabited the area for a millennia, and fur traders had established posts there in the early 19th century. The name 鈥淪pokane鈥� is believed to be from a Native word that means 鈥淐hildren of the Sun,鈥� and was perhaps inspired by the rainbow created when the sun strikes the mist rising from the falls.

Like many American communities 鈥� 鈥� Spokane has a current city flag dating to the 1970s that fails one or more of , as laid out by the North American Vexillological Association and Portland-based flag expert (or 鈥渧exillologist鈥�) Ted Kaye.

Among the most important principles of Kaye鈥檚 good flag design is to 鈥渒eep it simple鈥� 鈥� so that a child could draw the flag from memory. Spokane鈥檚 current flag 鈥� with its tiny stick people family and odd 鈥淐ertificate of Merit鈥� sun 鈥� fails this test, as well as the good design rule that forbids use of any lettering or city seals. Simple flags are easier to recognize from a distance, which is especially critical because the design is on a piece of fabric often either swaying in the breeze or drooping from atop a pole.

Perhaps the trickiest of the design principles is to 鈥渦se meaningful symbolism.鈥� Meaningful symbolism isn鈥檛 always obvious and can be difficult to explain, but Ted Kaye says that Chicago鈥檚 city flag is a great example. That flag 鈥� which Kaye says is ubiquitous in the Windy City 鈥� has blue stripes that represent the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, and four stars that represent key events in the city鈥檚 history.

The Chicago flag, says Kaye, is embraced by the government and citizens alike.

鈥淭he city of Chicago uses its flag all over the place,鈥� Kaye said. 鈥淭he government and the people use the flag. You probably can’t go a block in Chicago without seeing the city flag.鈥�

Closer to home, and where Kaye lives, 鈥� which dates to 2002 鈥� has really caught on with citizens and soccer fans in the city along the Willamette.

鈥淧ortland, Oregon, has a very popular, very highly-rated design, flag,鈥� Kaye said. 鈥淎nd you see it at Timbers鈥� ball games, especially when they鈥檙e playing in the Cascadia Cup.鈥�

The 鈥渉ighly-rated design鈥� comment isn鈥檛 just a Portlander鈥檚 boast 鈥� it鈥檚 and other research conducted by Kaye and the North American Vexillological Association over the past several years.

Kaye says there are several measures of success for a city flag, including how much it鈥檚 flown around town and how much it鈥檚 used by the people, such as those Portland soccer fans.

But, says Kaye, sounding like a true Portlander, you can tell 鈥渁 flag has truly been adopted by the people when it starts showing up as a tattoo.鈥�

Kaye also says Spokane isn鈥檛 alone in what it鈥檚 attempting to do. Cities all over the United States are revisiting, rethinking, and redesigning their flags, and much of the inspiration came from given in Vancouver, B.C., by podcast host Roman Mars.

鈥淗is TED Talk has set off a wave of city flag updates across the country,鈥� Kaye said. 鈥淚’m tracking a couple hundred cities that are doing, or have done, civic flag redesign.鈥�

Incidentally, according to the City of Spokane, as ungainly as the current flag is, it does have a pretty solid and credible pedigree. The current flag, says the city, is a creation of 鈥淟loyd L. Carlson, who also designed the famous 鈥楳obius strip鈥� symbol for the World’s Fair held in Spokane, Expo ’74.鈥�

The City of Spokane launched their official replacement effort a year ago, inspired, confirms Spokane Flag Commission member Joshua Hiler, by Roman Mars.

Hiler, a 26-year-old born and raised in Spokane, says the commission has been collecting design submissions and has already received more than 100. They would like to have at least 150, and this week the commission extended the deadline for more submissions to Oct. 15, and lifted the cap on the number of designs that any one person is allowed to submit.

According to Hiler, Spokane鈥檚 flag redesign process will be exhaustive, and he鈥檚 thrilled to be part of the effort.

鈥淲e definitely do have a lot of civic pride here for Spokane,鈥� Hiler said. 鈥淚 saw this as a way to engage with the community in a way to do something that I thought would be helpful. I always have wanted a flag for Spokane. I always thought it would be really great thing to rally behind, because I felt like [in Spokane] we don’t really have any symbols that people can like carry around.鈥�

Later this year, all submissions 鈥� excluding, of course, anything deemed obscene or otherwise inappropriate 鈥� will be posted online for people to review and weigh in on with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Then, in early 2021, the top 10 designs will be posted online and Spokane residents will be allowed to vote for their favorite. A Spokane Library Card will be required in order to vote, minimizing the chance of voter fraud or a rigged election.

Hiler also says the city would very much like to avoid anything along the lines of , and the commission aims to have the process completed in time for a peaceful transfer of power 鈥� or, at least the adoption of a new city flag 鈥� by June 14, 2021.

鈥淥ur ideal goal is that by Flag Day of 2021, we will have the final design approved and do a little ceremony to announce it,鈥� Hiler said. 鈥淎nd then we will put it up above City Hall and potentially start selling some stuff at our city gift shop, so people can start getting their own flags.鈥�

To submit a design or for more information, visit .

You can hear Feliks every Wednesday and Friday morning on Seattle鈥檚 Morning News and read more from him聽here. If you have a story idea, please email Feliks聽here.