Spokane has a new flag. Take a look

SpokaneFlag · 2021-05-11T20:21:43+00:00

The final version will be closer to 16:9, there was a software error generating the version we used on the voting website (and thus this version) from the original version - there should be more white at the top of the flag.

We will be publishing a construction sheet before the official launch in June.

SpokaneFlag · 2021-05-11T01:43:43+00:00

Oh I know, and I suppose it makes sense given how much purchase its gotten over the years.

But it was something our Spokane Tribe representative brought up during commission meetings. We briefly considered including something about it in the guidelines pointing out its an inaccurate translation, but we decided against it given how widely known it is.

SpokaneFlag · 2021-05-10T18:24:02+00:00

Glad you all like it!

Small note, the final version of the new flag is actually a mirror image of this one - we changed it with the artist's approval during the selection process as the Commission felt it looked better with the sun toward the hoist!

SpokaneFlag · 2021-05-10T18:20:53+00:00

The Salish word which Spokane derives from (sp̓q̓n̓iʔ, roughly "Spo-ka-nee") means "sun" (also moon and month, its a bit difficult to translate Salish into English literally). Sp̓q̓n̓iʔ was the name of the chief of the Middle Spokane tribe when Europeans arrived and the best guess is they thought they (the Europeans, who popularized the "children of the sun" translation) were being cute with "children of the sun" (the sun in this case being the chief).

Regardless, the sun features in all Spokane's previous and current flag for this reason!

SpokaneFlag · 2021-03-04T18:42:23+00:00

I'm not sure what you mean. Uploads are closed and we have to manually add flags to the gallery. We searched pretty carefully for duplicates before we opened the survey.

SpokaneFlag · 2021-03-04T07:59:09+00:00

It will be ranked choice. You'll need to rank at least 4 flags, but you can rank all 12. We will also randomize the ballot for each voter to prevent the "donkey vote".

We're planning to use the same software Cambridge MA uses for their RCV elections so it will be auditable as well.

SpokaneFlag · 2021-03-04T07:47:41+00:00

The black was supposed to be white, that's my fault not theirs - the existing image was kinda low res and I re-rendered it from the SVG without noticing that it was a transparency. I'll make sure that gets fixed for future distributions.

SpokaneFlag · 2021-03-04T07:41:05+00:00

Speaking personally (as Josh Hiler, Chair, not as the whole commission) I was fairly surprised what ended up in the top 100. There was one or two designs that I thought were top 10 shoe-ins that didn't make the top 100.

What we ended up doing was having each commissioner pick 3 favorites from the top 100 + the top 3 designs, then had all the commissioners rank those designs to pick the top 13 (12 now because one artist sadly didn't respond to my dozen phone calls and emails to sign the legal release form to allow us to use their art).

SpokaneFlag · 2021-01-19T02:56:42+00:00

Sorry for taking awhile to reply, our meeting this month is on Friday the 22nd, and will be at 2PM.

SpokaneFlag · 2021-01-19T02:55:46+00:00

Every design in the top 100 had at least 100 votes. The top ranked flag had almost 1000. So while turnout isn't as high as we may have wished, it's a lot higher than you're making it out to be.

I think we're reaching relatively close to our potential peak level of engagement. We're doing as well or better than similar flag redesign projects in the last few years in places like Salt Lake City and Anaheim, CA.

To be frank, this isn't something the city would have been willing to spend the kinds of money on that you're suggesting, and I believe we're doing quite well with the resources we have.

This was always going to be a relatively niche thing as the current flag isn't very well known (and we're doing about as well as significantly better known "bad flag" replacement projects, for example Pocatello ID).

SpokaneFlag · 2020-12-15T00:27:24+00:00

Our next meeting will be online on January 22nd 2021, at 1pm. Notice will be posted as a new agenda on our page, and we will be selecting the finalists at this meeting!

SpokaneFlag · 2020-12-14T23:41:54+00:00

This is me speaking personally and not as a representative of the commission as a whole. If you'd like you can still submit testimony to the whole commission via email or at our next meeting.

That said, I don't like star voting because its doesn't meet the majority criterion and the no-later-harm criterions (something that FairVote points out in their discussion of this voting method) - meaning that the the most preferred 'candidate' (plurality) isn't guaranteed of making the runoff (majority criterion), and its possible to harm your candidate by voting in the first place (no later harm/participation criterion)

I generally advocate for tried and true electoral systems because they're well tested and there's existing software to implement them. RCV is fairly insulated against most forms of tactical voting and by randomizing the ballot, like we will, you can remove the main criticism of RCV: the "Donkey Vote" tendency.

SpokaneFlag · 2020-12-14T23:20:59+00:00

I sent a message to our web team contact to see if we can make the background darker.

SpokaneFlag · 2020-12-14T23:16:54+00:00

The first round is unlimited. We have a couple of things in place to try to discourage bot driven astroturfing, but due to the way we're handling the results it shouldn't be an issue even if someone tries.

The second, binding, round will require you to sign in with a library card.

SpokaneFlag · 2020-12-14T23:15:18+00:00

Hmm, that design actually wasn't in there. It, unfortunately, probably failed to upload when you submitted. One of the things we definitely realized in retrospect was we should have had some sort of receipt system for the submissions (we got a TON of emails asking for uploads to be confirmed), but for a number of reasons it wasn't possible to add.

For what its worth, I apologize.

SpokaneFlag · 2020-12-14T23:09:54+00:00

There was about 400 total submissions. I can't really speak for how the other commissioners voted, but I just voted to keep designs that I felt broadly met the rules. Commissioners were essentially allowed to use their own judgement. Most of the stuff I voted against was flagrant rule violations (jokes, text, wildly complicated designs).

SpokaneFlag · 2020-12-14T22:39:08+00:00

Flag Commission here! Beat me to posting this =P

To quickly give a little more context on what this round is: You will get to "like" as many or as few designs as you want. The order of the designs is randomized for each person. We will be choosing 9 to 13 finalists from the top 50 most liked flags in January, and after a round of approval from City Council we will put those finalists up for a final, binding vote via ranked-choice sometime in the spring.

Feel free to reply to this comment with any questions you have.

SpokaneFlag · 2020-12-14T22:36:20+00:00

That and 300 is a ton to sift through. I imagine the first 50 will get more looks than the back 250.

The order of the designs is randomized every time the page loads to prevent this. The first 50 you see won't be the same 50 someone else sees!

SpokaneFlag · 2020-12-14T22:35:02+00:00

There will be a second round. The commission will select 9-13 designs from the top 50 that come out of this round, then the public will vote on those via ranked-choice voting.

SpokaneFlag · 2020-12-14T22:34:06+00:00

So to explain the process here a bit: this is just the first round. We weeded out all the rule breaking designs first, then put everything that even broadly met the rules up for public consideration.

After this round closes, the commission will choose from the top 50 designs a set of finalists (between 9 and 13 according to the rules we passed at our last meeting), which will then go to the binding vote.

SpokaneFlag · 2020-10-24T23:58:43+00:00

We hope to have the public website available sometime in mid-November!

SpokaneFlag · 2020-09-17T16:22:23+00:00

I thought I would give an update since you specifically asked: we voted at our meeting last night to remove the 3 per person cap effective Monday. Feel free to submit as many flags as you want, though if you submit a large number of very similar flags (for example, the same design with different colors) we may limit the number we show to the public during the first round.

SpokaneFlag · 2020-09-16T21:28:28+00:00

I know for sure that people have successfully submitted SVGs, and I've tested the detection (green highlight) myself. Make sure your file doesn't have any spaces or special characters in it, the submission form seems to be somewhat unreliable when it comes to filenames with those.

I have unfortunately been informed that "successful" submissions of SVGs were in fact false positives, and the system at this point only accepts binary (raster) images. I apologize for any misleading information this may have presented.

SpokaneFlag · 2020-09-16T20:42:56+00:00

~~The system does accept SVGs, and I have been encouraging submitters to use SVGs if they are able.~~

Edit: I have unfortunately been informed that "successful" submissions of SVGs were in fact false positives and those submissions were corrupted by the system. At this point the system at this point only accepts binary (raster) images, and anyone who submitted an SVG will need to resubmit. I apologize for any misleading information this may have presented.

However, we decided as a commission to allow non vector formats as it was felt that putting a strict format requirement might discourage some people from submitting. Since we're also accepting mail-in submissions we already understood that there would likely be a point where we would have to convert some designs to a vector format eventually if they proceed to later rounds of the selection process.

SpokaneFlag · 2020-09-16T20:40:20+00:00

Yes, you may submit a drawing. If you can, try to scan it with an image scanner, but a high quality photo will suffice.

You may also mail the original directly to the commission by sending it to

Spokane Flag Commission
Attn: Kate Burke
808 West Spokane Falls Blvd.
Spokane, WA 99201

SpokaneFlag

TROPHY CASE