Editor:

My name is Jasper and I am 14 years old, born and raised San Francisco resident. I am currently a freshman at University High School. I am writing to share my proposal to change the San Francisco flag and the interesting story about it.

When I first discovered the current San Francisco flag, I was very disappointed because it does not reflect the beautiful and complex city we live in. I then began to research flag design and begin creating my own designs. I found these five widely accepted principles of good flag design.

Here are five fundamental rules of flag design from the book “Good Flag, Bad Flag.” The five principles are:

1. Keep It Simple – The flag should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory.

2. Use Meaningful Symbolism – The flag’s images, colors, or patterns should relate to what it symbolizes.

3. Use 2 or 3 Basic Colors – Limit the number of colors on the flag to three, which contrast well and come from the standard color set.

4. No Lettering or Seals – Never use writing of any kind or an organization’s seal.

5. Be Distinctive or Be Related – Avoid duplicating other flags, but use similarities to show connections.

The current San Francisco flag violates several of these principles. It is too complex, has too many words, and simply doesn’t represent modern San Francisco well.

This new flag design draws on symbols that represent San Francisco:

1. The top gray stripe symbolizes our fog.

2. The middle green stripe represents our parks (esp. Golden Gate Park).

3. The bottom blue stripe represents the ocean.

4. The orange triangle represents the Golden Gate Bridge and our hills and mountains.

5. The star has 11 points for the 11 districts of San Francisco

6. The star is gold for the Gold Rush.

Action Plan:

I have created a website and a petition to demonstrate the impact a new flag would have on the community: https://www.newflagsf.com/

The most necessary legal step would be an amendment to the City Administrative Code. This happens with an ordinance approved by the Board of Supervisors and signed by the Mayor.

Jasper Lim