A field of 80 flags from across the country were hand-selected for a Twitter tournament to compete for the best flag in the United States, and one southwest Michigan flag has risen near the top.
Less than a year after being adopted, the Dowagiac City Flag has reached the semifinals of the North American City Flags Tournament on Twitter.
The small city’s flag has defeated the flags of Coral Springs, Florida and Tulsa, Oklahoma – cities with populations more than 20 times larger than Dowagiac – on its way to the final four matchup against Columbia, South Carolina.
Dowagiac resident Eileen Crouse, who led the movement to design an official city flag to Dowagiac earlier this year, said they need the help of Michiana residents to get to the finals.
“It’s like Star Wars, we need a scrappy band of rebels to defeat the larger power,” said Crouse, who also is Membership Coordinator for the Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce. “If you can mobilize civic pride and energy and enthusiasm with all Michiganders or people from Michiana … Dowagiac is much more than the 5,600 people that live here.”
The center focal point of the Dowagiac flag is a white dogwood flower, which represents Dowagiac being the first “Dogwood Tree City USA.” and having the trees as a staple of its downtown. The circle in the center of the four petals reflects Dowagiac’s location at the juncture Silver Creek, Wayne, Pokagon and LaGrange Townships.
Each point of the star represent a significant element of Dowagiac’s history and industry:
- The Michigan Central Railroad
- The Colby Mill
- The Round Oak Stove Company
- The Heddon Lure Company
The color orange represents fire, in honor of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi as the “Keepers of the Fire,” the flame within a furnace as “Furnace City,” and as the Dowagiac Union Schools Chieftain orange. Those elements are surrounded by a blue circle which represents the Dowagiac River, Dowagiac Creek, Mill Pond and the Great Lakes.
The entire symbol is placed on a field of green which is symbolic of our agricultural roots. It acknowledges the continuing importance of farming in our community as well as the Southwestern Michigan College Roadrunner green.
“Hopefully the agricultural community and the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians can get behind us,” Crouse said. “There’s a lot of history here and a lof of people who once lived here or went to Southwestern Michigan College … I’m just working hard to to reach out to as many of those people to rally them to vote today and then in the finals. Just do a good deed with your thumb.”
Twitter users can vote for Dowagiac’s flag using the link below.
Vote for the wings of Columbia or the dogwood flower over fire of Dowagiac.
Voting in match ends tomorrow (Thu) at 8am.
Best of luck to both. Vote in the other semifinal match above too!
5/6 #CityFlagsTourney22 #vexillology— Brian Stokle
(@urbanlifesigns) December 28, 2022
Regardless of whether or not Dowagiac’s Flag is crowned champion, Crouse said just being selected – and named one of the “premier” Midwest flags – is an honor.
“It is so validating for someone from completely outside the area to cull through hundreds of city flags and say Dowagiac is one of the top 80 in the country,” said Crouse, of tournament director Brian Stokle. Stokle created the tournament to garner support for his own flag, which he wants the city of San Francisco to adopt, according to Crouse.
As a former Chicago resident, Crouse had long been petitioning for Dowagiac to have a city flag of its own since moving to the city. She said she studied flags from all over the world in the multi-year process prior to convincing Dowagiac officials to implement a city flag.
Artist Paige Behnke, City Councilman Pat Bakeman and Crouse led the efforts to design a flag for Dowagiac.
Now, she said to have the flag become official in the city and have it recognized on a broader scale is exciting – especially after receiving some criticism from community members throughout the process.
“It’s encouraging that things you do get appreciated for their quality,” Crouse said. “It makes me want to do more positive things for the community.”
By Ryan Yuenger
ryany@wsjm.com
