Beyond MoCo: Frederick County Holding Contest to Redesign County Flag

As part of Frederick County’s 275^thAnniversary Celebratory year, the Frederick County 275 Planning Committee is holding a community contest to redesign the County flag. Frederick County all residents are encouraged to submit a design! Submissions can be made from 5 p.m. January 30, 2023, until March 31, 2023, by emailing [email protected] Submission criteria include:

• The designer must currently live or have lived in Frederick County, Maryland
• Only one submission per person may be made
• Must be an original design and may not include copyrighted content
• Design must be easily displayed on a cloth flag (3’x 5’) to be flown on a flag pole
• Submissions should include a design title and narrative
• The design must create a positive message of unity in our community
• Must be an inclusive representation of all residents of Frederick County, Maryland.

All designers are required to submit a rules and agreement form. Designers younger than eighteen years of age must submit a parental content form upon submission of the design.  Designs should be submitted as a full color, high-resolution PDF, JPG, or PNG in landscape format and can be submitted no later than the deadline. Incomplete submissions will not be accepted.

The contest will include two rounds. A selection committee consisting of County employees and community members will score the first round of designs based on simplicity, color scheme, and message/narrative. In April 2023, the top three submissions will move forward to round two. A final winner will be voted on by the public. Voting closes June 10, 2023, the day of the County’s Jubilee.A winner will be announced on Flag Day, June 14, 2023.  The contest winner will receive a cash prize of $1,275 and a full-size flag with their design.

“Frederick County values the arts, and we want to encourage talented artists of all ages to participate in the contest to redesign our flag.” County Executive Jessica Fitzwater said in a Press Release. The current Frederick County flag was created in 1976 by local artist James Pearl who won a contest sponsored by the Frederick County Bicentennial Committee. The final flag design was presented by Dana Kiester, Frederick County Bicentennial Committee Chair, and was presented, then approved by the Board of County Commissioners on March 15, 1976. The flag (shown above) contains an image of Francis Scott Key pointing to a yellow replica of Frederick County encircled in blue, against a background of nine horizontal bars of equal width alternating in red and white.