By Eric Inda
What makes Florence uniquely Florence? One of the many various features that Florence, Kentucky has to offer should be a vibrant flag which can truly represent the second largest city in Northern Kentucky, yet that is currently not the case, that statement deserves change.
Currently, the flag of Florence is a low-effort white banner with a smaller blue ribbon on the top and equal sized yellow ribbon sitting on the bottom, featuring the seal of the city slapped in the middle for good measure. During my research into the little information available surrounding Florence’s flag, a small article popped up, claiming that the former City Clerk, Joe Christofield, had “no information about the city flag,” other than the fact that the logo within the flag was adopted in 2002.
This does not represent what Florence has come to be for the hard working 30,000+ residents who have called the city home for the many years in which Florence has grown to become a hub for shopping, entertainment, and living in the Tri-State area. A subpar flag with a logo in the middle does not accurately portray the true grit of those who work, play, and reside in Boone County’s largest city.
Florence has many features to be proud of that aren’t currently represented in their city’s colors, from achieving Tree City USA recognition, to Turfway Park and the historic Main Street, located just next to the site of a skirmish between Union and Confederate soldiers on September 17, 1862, not to mention the forever iconic Florence Y’all water tower nestled between the Florence Mall and Interstate 71/75, and much more.
Florentines deserve a flag that can make them truly feel proud of their hometown as are many people in nearby cities and communities such as Cincinnati, where their flag has been embraced as an icon of the city for decades and beloved by many who call the Queen City their home. It’s been featured on the porches of people’s houses, in the stands at FC Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium, and flying high over buildings across downtown, and while Florence is nowhere near the size of Cincinnati, this love for our town can still be achieved through waving our flag with pride, chances are, a new one would better represent us.
The concept of flags changing would not be unique to Florence, places across the nation, ranging from Reno, NV, to the great state of Minnesota, have recently made the decisions to change their flags from something of disappointing effort, to those that are more delightful for the eye, many of which were showered with positive feedback by the residents of whom the ensigns represented. Florence deserves to join that club of places who desired and received change in their regional banners flown from government buildings, to suburban homes.
Perhaps it’s time that the residents of Florence consider proposing new designs of their own as alternatives to our current flag, a revamp to our city’s banner will provide an excellent opportunity not only for residents to build newfound pride for the city’s excellent history and future, but also for local artists to get their name out there and, perhaps, find themselves forever engrained in our city’s excellent and ever-growing history.