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Anaheim, California (U.S.)

Orange County

Current Flag

Design
Symbolism
Selection
Designer
More about the Flag

Seal
2018 Proposed Flag (aborted)

See also:

Current Flag

5:7 image(s) by permission of David B. Martucci
image(s) from American City Flags, Raven 9-10 (2002-2003), courtesy of the North American Vexillological Association, which retains copyright.

Text and image(s) from American City Flags, Raven 9-10 (2002-2003), courtesy of the North American Vexillological Association, which retains copyright. Image(s) from American City Flags by permission of David B. Martucci.

Design

The flag of Anaheim is a horizontal tribar of light blue, white, and light blue stripes in proportions of 1:2:1. Centered on the top stripe in black block letters is CITY OF ANAHEIM; likewise on the bottom stripe is FOUNDED 1857. In the center of the white stripe is the city’s seal in full color, 2 units in diameter on a field of 5 units by 7 units. The outer edge of the seal is a dark green. Immediately within it are two concentric circles somewhat narrower than the outer edge, forming a ring of the same color. Curved clockwise within the top part of the ring, in an Arial font, is CITY OF ANAHEIM CALIFORNIA, and below, counterclockwise, FOUNDED 1857, all in dark green. Dots at 8 o’clock and 4 o’clock separate the two legends. Within the inner edge of the ring is another green circle that matches the outer edge of the seal in width and surrounds the body of the seal, which depicts a colorful view of a typical agricultural farm. In the foreground on the hoist side are nestled a half-dozen yellow lemons; on the fly side are five oranges, some with leaves attached. A wreath of dark green citrus leaves extends from the lemons and oranges to the top of the circular scene, diminishing in width as it rises. Five sun-dappled brown walnuts rest atop the pile of lemons and oranges. As a background to the fruit, a vineyard of 11 green rows appears in the distance. A white house with a red roof stands to the left of the vineyard. Behind it is another taller building, also white with a red roof. Beyond the vineyard, the land is divided into two strata, green over yellow, above which rises a snow-covered mountain range in blue and white, topped by low-lying white clouds and a bright blue sky. Spaced across the strata are five oil derricks, appearing to be at varying distances, in dark blue.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Symbolism

The seal depicts the agricultural origins of Anaheim and Orange County that centered on Valencia oranges, walnuts, grapes, and lemons. The oil derricks represent industry; the San Gabriel Mountains are visible from many parts of the city. The city’s seal was adopted on 24 May 1960. The artwork is very reminiscent of a fruit box label.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Selection

By the mayor, Fred Krein.
Flag adopted: 11 April 1967 (unofficial).
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Designer

Howard C. “Bud” Nagel, Public Information Officer.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

More about the Flag

The first flag was presented by Mayor Krein in a pre-game ceremony when the Los Angeles Angels and the Detroit Tigers opened the 1967 American League season at Anaheim. Governor (later President) Ronald Reagan and Gene Autry, star of western-themed movies, took part in the ceremony.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

The seal on the web may not be the "official" depiction, but the whim of the artist who drew it. Resolution #6040 (May 24, 1960), adopting the seal, does not provide for any colors; it is shown in black and white. The copies of the seal in color sent to me in October, 2001, by the Anaheim Public Library of publications from the city describing their mission and goals, are all shown with a white outer ring and black lettering. Not infrequently, when no colors are specified for a part of a flag or seal, artists and flag manufacturers interpret them as they wish. Thus it is hard to say, without seeing one, which version of the seal the current flag may show.
John Purcell, 28 January 2008

In this specific case the flag (or at least one exemplar of it) does appear to have a dark blue ring; the letters are either white or a light gold.
Ned Smith, 28 January 2008

images by António Martins-Tuválkin, 13 June 2008

Based on these photos, we can say that there is an alternate depiction with 2:3 ratio (wider than the image in American City Flags and the American City Flag Survey) and black seal rim with white letters (unlike images at the official website, with golden letters on dark blue rim). The exact depictions used in these sources (black letters on white rim) and ratio shorter than 2:3 are shown here. As said by John Purcell, these are variations caused by less strict manufacture guidelines, not vexillologically meaningful alternates.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 13 June 2008

image(s) by permission of David B. Martucci
image(s) from American City Flags, Raven 9-10 (2002-2003), courtesy of the North American Vexillological Association, which retains copyright.

The city does not consider that there was a former flag, as such. However, the flag presented in the 1967 ceremony differs from the current version in that the first flag was swallow-tailed, with proportions of 3:5. The city seal, without the outer ring and lettering, was set near to the hoist, instead of occupying the center of the white stripe. Otherwise, the details are the same. It is not known when the shape changed to a rectangle.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Seal

image located by Paul Bassinson, 6 May 2019

Source: https://theliberaloc.com/

2018 Proposed Flag (aborted)

image located by Dave Fowler, 29 August 2018

According to https://www.ocregister.com/2018/08/29/anaheim-adopts-its-new-city-flag-which-features-its-iconic-anaheim-blue/:

Anaheim adopts new city flag, which features its ‘Anaheim blue’.
A dark blue background with a horizontal light blue line and six white stars will represent Anaheim going forward. A new city flag was selected by the City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 28. The flag, Mayor Tom Tait said, is indicative of “Anaheim’s deep history” in the state of California and the unity of the six council districts that make up the city.
The dark navy blue – “Anaheim blue,” Mike Lyster, city spokesman, said – represents Anaheim’s history since its incorporation in 1876. The light blue stripe represents the Santa Ana River, which is one of the city’s largest geographical features. Along with representing the council districts, the stars in the center are an homage to the American flag.
The chosen design is one of 113 submissions received by the city. They were judged based on guidelines from the North American Vexillological Association, which states good flag design should have a simplistic design with meaningful symbolism, basic colors and no lettering or seals. Submissions were accepted from Anaheim residents, people who work in the city and people who have a significant “connection” with Anaheim.
The new flag was designed by Annie Choe, a long-time Anaheim resident who now lives in Irvine. “It was the first city we ever bought our house together. I consider it my second hometown.”
“Their specific guidelines was to keep it simple, keep it simple. Nothing complicated,” said Choe, a graphic designer. “I wanted to do something simple, but at a glance, it was Anaheim. From this point on in time, they will recognize at a glance that it is the city of Anaheim’s flag.”
The move to replace the city’s flag, which was adopted in 1967, was spurred in part by a 2015 TED talk which flagged Anaheim as one of the cities with the worst designs, officials said. The former flag, which features the city seal and bold text, was designed when the Anaheim stadium – now known as Angel Stadium – and the Anaheim Convention Center were built and the city needed something to fly at the new facilities, Lyster said.
“It was more functional than inspirational,” Lyster said. “The TED talk and CBS special brought it to the fore, but the idea has been around for a long time, for a flag that better serves as a symbol that folks can rally around.”
City officials expect to install about 35 flags with the new design city-wide, namely at facilities such as the Anaheim Convention Center and City Hall.

Dave Fowler, 29 August 2018

When this flag was rolled one out, the citizens complained that they did not like it, and wanted the old flag back. The City of Anaheim is not using the “new” flag anymore. The old one is flying at City Hall, the Artic (Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center), Anaheim Stadium, the Honda Center/Pond, and the Anaheim Convention Center. So it seem they are officially still using the old design that was originally criticized.
Glenn R. Frank, 1 August 2022

Article by Brooklynn Wong (18 September 2019):

Mayor Pro Tem Lucille Kring proposed, at a July City Council Meeting, to vote on reinstating the old flag. The vote finally came during last Tuesday’s Council Meeting. Cultural & Heritage Commissioner Mark Richard Daniels spoke in favor of reinstating the old one, saying future generations need to know “the great illogical story of this little community put out in the middle of nowhere, where it was said the land couldn’t even support a goat.” The council members had a lengthy and complicated discussion late into the night, that included everything from consideration of alternative designs that fused the old and the new flag, to proposing putting the decision off again so the residents could vote on it online. Mayor Pro Tem Kring said she was in favor of going back to the original design, as long as the city seal on it were made to look better. Councilman Jordan Brandman asked for a fusion of the old flag and the new, and some other council members expressed support for this. Councilman Jose Moreno made a motion to continue the item to allow more time for consideration, discussion and public input before a decision was made, but his motion failed. When at long last the motion to reinstate the old flag was voted on, it passed, bringing the one-year-old flag’s tenure to an end.
Masao Okazaki, 1 August 2022