CLEVELAND — Last week, we introduced you to the people from the CLE Flag Project, the group that's trying to update our city symbol. The current flag has been representing our city since 1896, and they believe it's time for a change.
"I didn't know that Cleveland had a flag," CLE Flag Project co-project organizer Brian Lachman told 3News in an earlier interview. "Most of our feedback through talking to people and surveying the community was that it's just not an effective flag. We're looking to the community of Greater Cleveland to submit flag designs...We want people to get engaged with this."
However, this has been our city's symbol for over a century, and in a city that values tradition, it's only logical that some people might object to the change. Here's someone who comes to mind. Susan Hepburn, the artist who designed our current banner back in 1895, but as she's unavailable for comment, her great-granddaughter, Kristen Fragassi, is speaking up on behalf of the family.
"We just feel like from our standpoint, this is a bit of an exercise in revisionist history. We would like to educate people the principles on which the city was founded that are represented in this flag," Fragassi said.
Fragassi, who notes that her great grandmother went on to become an accomplished artist after designing the flag at just 18 years old, thinks there’s value in preserving the current look.
"To me, it seems like a solution in search of a problem. This isn't about me or our family history or our family legacy. This is about the history of Cleveland."
And as she pointed out, these symbols all represent important elements that laid the foundation of this great city.
"This is a wheel, an anvil and a hammer. These represent manufacturing and building the city never could have been built with any of those three things. Right. And this is a wind glass, an anchor and oars. This represents commerce and trade and maritime interests that were another foundational growth area for the city.
"I think it's really, really important to know where you came from. I don't think that there's anything offensive or I don't think any groups are, feel marginalized or oppressed by this flag in any way."
While Fragassi says she's not necessarily objecting to holding the contest, she does have concerns about the expense and environmental impact of a new design.
"It is in our background all over the city. It's on every single police officer's uniform twice. It's on every single police cruiser. It flies over all municipal buildings in the city. This seal is on a lot of the website designs and all over city hall and stationary and so on."
So it looks like we have ourselves a good old fashioned flag debate. Will the city adopt a new flag? Will we stick with the old? Will a compromise of some kind be reach, or will this flag debate tear our city of sunder With so much uncertainty? There's only one thing that I think we can all agree on. My personal flag submission is unlikely to see round two.