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On Monday, the Common Council’s Steering and Rules Committee voted 5-3 on a resolution to adopt the so-called “People’s Flag” as the official flag of the City of Milwaukee beginning Jan. 31, 2025.
The matter now moves to the full Common Council for a vote.
The resolution, sponsored by Ald. Peter Burgelis, calls for the adoption of Robert Lenz’s “Sunrise Over the Lake” – known as the “people’s flag” of the city after it won a Greater Together competition in 2016 – as the official city flag.
Aldermen Russell W. Stamper, II, DiAndre Jackson and Robert Bauman opposed the measure, supporting a separate motion to hold the subject. The latter motion failed, 3-5.
In 2018, the Milwaukee Arts Board recommended that the city seek a new official flag design and the following year City Clerk Jim Owczarski issued a Request for Qualifications and Request for Proposals for designing and adopting a new official flag. That effort received no responses.
Meanwhile, many citizens and organizations have embraced the banner dubbed the People’s Flag, which is of a much simpler design than the current flag, which was adopted in 1955 after a competition won by 17-year-old Alfred P. Dannenmann.
The dissenting alders questioned the inclusiveness of the process for selecting the design and Ald. Burgelis' efforts to garner diverse opinions on adopting the flag.
Milwaukee notables John Gurda and Reggie Jackson offered testimony – on video and in written form – in support of the new flag at Monday’s committee meeting, and Steve Kodis, who initially launched the idea for the 2016 contest and maintains the Milwaukee Flag website, testified alongside Burgelis.
Bauman suggested adding a silhouette of City Hall to the white circle that represents the sun to make the flag more recognizably "Milwaukee."
Jackson asked why the sun on the flag is white.
Kodis replied that the center of the sun rising over the lake is white with a yellow halo and that the color white on flags has symbolized unity and hope, which was questioned by Stamper.
Stamper asked Kodis to share his sources on the symbolism of white in flag designs.
“The current flag from 1955 is a great time capsule of our city at that time, but is no longer relevant or frankly appropriate,” said Burgelis in a statement last week.
“Milwaukee is moving forward and looking to the future, and Bay View artist Robert Lenz’s ‘Sunrise Over the Lake’ is a timeless and aspirational design that will represent Milwaukee for generations to come.”
Burgelis added that he visited, “all parts of the city to share information and collect feedback on both the current and proposed new city flags,” in advance of the committee meeting.
He also said he contacted the offices of all the city alders seeking help in gathering opinions from their districts, a fact which other alders on the committee confirmed.
Burgelis said that an "unscientific" survey received 1,296 verified responses from City of Milwaukee residents and resulted in 967 yes votes for the new flag and 329 said no.
“What matter(s) is that it inspires people to get behind it,” noted OnMilwaukee’s Jason McDowell in 2018. “A flag is worthless if nobody flies it.”
Historian Gurda added in his video testimony, that the flag, "is rooted in authentic symbolism" and added, "I think the flag's popularity is richly deserved."
"I see the flag proudly displayed all over town," said journalist, speaker and researcher Jackson – who is the head griot of America's Black Holocaust Museum – in his written statement. "The community loves the flag and that can't be denied."
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
