Flag of Billings, Montana explained

City of Billings
Status:Adopted
Proportion:3:5
Adoption:June 1986
Designer:Fernando Méndez
Design:A blue and white tricolor containing a logo-style seal in the middle.

The current flag of Billings, Montana, United States, is a "Canadian-like" triband of very dark blue and white with the city seal on the central white panel. The seal shows the Billings skyline line-drawn in blue, with a red disc representing the sun. The seal is outlined in blue with the text "Star of the Big Sky Country" in red capitals. It was designed by Fernando Méndez and adopted in June 1986.

History

On February 3, 1986, the Billings city council approved a citywide contest to design a new flag and seal with a $500 prize for each with a deadline set for May 15.[1] [2] The two contests drew 66 total entries and were won by Fernando Méndez,[3] an immigrant from the Philippines who worked part-time as an art director for a local advertising firm. He was paid $1,000 for his work and the flag was adopted by the city government.[4]

In 2004, the North American Vexillological Association conducted an internet survey of 150 city flags across the US. Billings' flag ranked 106th place out of 150 flags. It received 3.35 points on a 0-10 scale, or D+ rating.[5]

Notes and References

  1. News: Gaub . Dennis . February 4, 1986 . Dairy gets OK to buy city land . A5 . . . February 3, 2020.
  2. News: March 27, 1986 . Seal, flag contest begins . C5 . The Billings Gazette . Newspapers.com . February 3, 2020.
  3. Book: Purcell . John M. . Croft . James A. . Monahan . Rich . 2003 . American City Flags: 150 Flags from Akron to Yonkers . 36–37 . . 978-0-9747728-0-6 . 1011001515 . February 3, 2020.
  4. News: Gaub . Dennis . June 5, 1986 . Newcomer wins city seal contest . C1 . The Billings Gazette . Newspapers.com . February 3, 2020.
  5. Web site: Nava - American City Flags Survey Press Release . 2011-05-19 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110830054957/http://www.nava.org/Flag%20Design/City%20Survey%202004/acf_press_release.htm . 2011-08-30 .