2004 NAVA city flag survey

The flag of NAVA or the North American Vexillological Association

Following its 2001 survey ranking the subnational flags of the US and Canada, NAVA held another survey among its members and the public in 2004, this time to review 150 US city flags (including "the 100 largest cities in the U.S., all state capitals, and at least two cities per state").

As with the previous survey, respondents gave scores between 0 and 10 to each flag, based on their "personal sense of good flag design". The average score for each city is given in brackets.

List

1. Washington, D.C. (9.17)
2. Chicago, Illinois (9.03)
3. Denver, Colorado (8.86)
4. Phoenix, Arizona (8.65)
5. St. Louis, Missouri (8.56)
6. Wichita, Kansas (8.41)
7. Portland, Oregon (8.38)
8. Indianapolis, Indiana (8.35)
9. Louisville, Kentucky (8.11 | 1934-2003)
10. Corpus Christi, Texas (8.02)
11. Madison, Wisconsin (7.92 | 1962-2018)
12. Jackson, Mississippi (7.83)
13. San Antonio, Texas (7.79)
14. Des Moines, Iowa (7.77)
15. Richmond, Virginia (7.76)
16. New Orleans, Louisiana (7.74)
17. Irving, Texas (7.65 | 1975-unknown)
18. Baltimore, Maryland (7.64)
19. Colorado Springs, Colorado (7.05)
20. Fremont, California (6.79)
21. Dallas, Texas (6.27)
22. Cincinnati, Ohio (6.26)
23. St. Petersburg, Florida (6.24)
24. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (6.06)
25. Albuquerque, New Mexico (5.89)
26. Omaha, Nebraska (5.59)
27. Minneapolis, Minnesota (5.58)
28. Annapolis, Maryland (5.39)
29. Anchorage, Alaska (5.33)
30. Seattle, Washington (5.32)
31. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (5.30)
32. Buffalo, New York (5.26)
33. Los Angeles, California (5.24)
34. Albany, New York (5.20)
35. San Francisco, California (5.14)
36. Fresno, California (5.12)
37. New York City, New York (5.11)
38. Jacksonville, Florida (5.03)
39. Birmingham, Alabama (4.97)
40. Sacramento, California (4.97)
41. Springfield, Illinois (4.89)
42. Wilmington, Delaware (4.88)
43. Nashville, Tennessee (4.85)
44. St. Paul, Minnesota (4.80)
45. Montgomery, Alabama (4.76)
46. Topeka, Kansas (4.76 | 1977-2019)
47. Oakland, California (4.74)
48. Shreveport, Louisiana (4.74)
49. Fort Smith, Arkansas (4.73)
50. Charleston, West Virginia (4.71)
51. Salem, Oregon (4.71 | 1972-2022)
52. Fort Wayne, Indiana (4.62 | 1934-2022)
53. Rochester, New York (4.61)
54. Memphis, Tennessee (4.56)
55. Houston, Texas (4.55)
56. Raleigh, North Carolina (4.48)
57. San Diego, California (4.47)
58. Arlington, Texas (4.45)
59. Cleveland, Ohio (4.45)
60. Casper, Wyoming (4.42)
61. Riverside, California (4.42 | 1967-2020)
62. Austin, Texas (4.38)
63. Jefferson City, Missouri (4.36)
64. Concord, New Hampshire (4.30)
65. Tallahassee, Florida (4.29 | 1955-1986)
66. Charlotte, North Carolina (4.24)
67. Fort Worth, Texas (4.24) (changed in 2004)
68. Trenton, New Jersey (4.24)
69. Chesapeake, Virginia (4.20)
70. Miami, Florida (4.18)
71. Detroit, Michigan (4.17)
72. Columbus, Ohio (4.09)
73. Grand Forks, North Dakota (4.09)
74. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (4.09)
75. Little Rock, Arkansas (4.06)
76. Mobile, Alabama (4.05)
77. Worcester, Massachusetts (4.02)
78. San Jose, California (3.97)
79. Tampa, Florida (3.97)
80. Baton Rouge, Louisiana (3.95)
81. Cheyenne, Wyoming (3.95)
82. Newark, New Jersey (3.86)
83. Plano, Texas (3.86)
84. Carson City, Nevada (3.85)
85. Columbia, South Carolina (3.83)
86. Garland, Texas (3.79)
87. Jersey City, New Jersey (3.79)
88. Lincoln, Nebraska (3.79 | 1931-2022)
89. Dover, Delaware (3.77)
90. Long Beach, California (3.70 | 1967-2020)
91. El Paso, Texas (3.67)
92. Santa Ana, California (3.65)
93. Las Vegas, Nevada (3.61)
94. Toledo, Ohio (3.61)
95. Bismarck, North Dakota (3.59)
96. Atlanta, Georgia (3.58)
97. Augusta, Maine (3.58)
98. Greensboro, North Carolina (3.48)
99. Salt Lake City, Utah (3.47 | 1969-2006)
100. Stockton, California (3.45)
101. Warwick, Rhode Island (3.44)
102. Glendale, Arizona (3.38)
103. Kansas City, Missouri (3.38 | 1992-2023)
104. Aurora, Colorado (3.36 | 1969-2011)
105. Grand Rapids, Michigan (3.36)
106. Billings, Montana (3.35)
107. Burlington, Vermont (3.29 | 1990-2017)
108. Lansing, Michigan (3.20)
109. Olympia, Washington (3.18)
110. Augusta, Georgia (3.15)
111. Spokane, Washington (3.15) (1967-2021)
112. Lexington, Kentucky (3.11) (new flag used locally but not yet adopted)
113. Bakersfield, California (3.09)
114. Boise, Idaho (3.05)
115. Pierre, South Dakota (3.05)
116. Norfolk, Virginia (3.00)
117. Santa Fe, New Mexico (2.97)
118. Manchester, New Hampshire (2.95)
119. Hartford, Connecticut (2.94)
120. Glendale, California (2.92)
121. Gulfport, Mississippi (2.92)
122. Honolulu, Hawaii (2.91)
123. Helena, Montana (2.89)
124. Tulsa, Oklahoma (2.88) (changed in 2018)
125. Virginia Beach, Virginia (2.88)
126. Akron, Ohio (2.86) (since modified)
127. Yonkers, New York (2.86)
128. Scottsdale, Arizona (2.80)
129. Providence, Rhode Island (2.79)
130. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (2.74)
131. Portland, Maine (2.74)
132. Tacoma, Washington (2.74)
133. Boston, Massachusetts (2.71)
134. Juneau, Alaska (2.70)
135. Tucson, Arizona (2.67)
136. Charleston, South Carolina (2.61)
137. Anaheim, California (2.56 | 1967-2018, 2019-present)
138. Maui, Hawaii (2.56)
139. Bridgeport, Connecticut (2.50)
140. Frankfort, Kentucky (2.41)
141. Montpelier, Vermont (2.35 | 2000-2017)
142. Cedar Rapids, Iowa (2.23 | 1962-2021)
143. Provo, Utah (2.14 | 1989-2015)
144. Lubbock, Texas (1.92) (official flag different from flag used in survey)
145. Hialeah, Florida (1.85)
146. Mesa, Arizona (1.73 | 2004-2005)
147. Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1.59) (a contest for a new flag was held in 2016, but official adoption of the winner has yet failed)
148. Rapid City, South Dakota (1.56) (since changed)
149. Huntington, West Virginia (1.50 | unknown-2004)
150. Pocatello, Idaho (1.48 | 2001-2017)

Flag changes

• Louisville, Kentucky (2003)
• Madison, Wisconsin (2018)
• Irving, Texas (unknown)
• Topeka, Kansas (2019)
• || Tallahassee, Florida (1986/2002/2020)
• Lincoln, Nebraska (2022)
• Long Beach, California (2020)
• Salem, Oregon (2022)
• Fort Wayne, Indiana (2022)
• | Salt Lake City, Utah (2002/2020)
• Aurora, Colorado (2011)
• Burlington, Vermont (2017)
• Spokane, Washington (2021)
• Anaheim, California (2018-2019)
• Montpelier, Vermont (2017)
• Cedar Rapids, Iowa (2021)
• Provo, Utah (2015)
• Mesa, Arizona (2005)
• | Huntington, West Virginia (2004/2021)
• Pocatello, Idaho (2017)
• Kansas City, Missouri (2023)

External links

• Press release
• Table of results on NAVA's website, with images of all the flags