With new flag, campaign asks for support to get petition approved
For the past few years, a campaign has pushed for the city of Davis to have its own official city flag. Last year, a contest was held to have the public vote for the flag that would be presented when the city is given the petition. The chosen flag consists of a bicycle spoke that makes the letter “D” in yellow type against a background of blue, representing the UC Davis’ school colors.
The campaign was started by Aiden Ramey, a fourth-year electrical engineering major, back in 2017, and it has grown since.
“I started this campaign because I love Davis,” Ramey said via email interview. “Ever since I first stepped foot in the city, I knew this was the place I wanted to go to school. I was thinking of ways I could give back to this great city when I came across a TED talk about city flag design which gave me the idea. There is no better way to show your civic pride than with a city flag and to give the city a symbol we can proudly fly would be my greatest accomplishment.”
Ramey noted the positive impacts of the flag on the Davis community.
“I love the flag that the residents of Davis have chosen,” Ramey said via email. “We had close to 20 submissions from our community and the design that was chosen highlights so many great aspects of our city including, biking, agriculture and our wonderful university. When people see the design that we are proposing, they immediately think of Davis demonstrating how great a flag it is. I already have order requests of the flag and it hasn’t even been officially recognized yet!”
Ramey’s campaign drew city-wide attention. In 2018, Ramey was interviewed on the “Davisville” segment of the local public radio station in which he talked in more detail about the campaign. In the interview, Ramey spoke about how he has committed to getting a tattoo of the flag, should it receive approval.
A Facebook page enables people to support the cause, as well as find a template to help draft a letter to be sent to the city council. Ramey had gone before the city council, but at that time the petition was impeded by the fact that a flag had not been picked yet. Now that a flag has been decided upon, the next step is to gain support from city council.
“Moving forward, we are trying to get organizational and political support as we have lots of public support and getting big names in the community behind the project will be very valuable,” Ramey said via email. “We also started a letter writing campaign to the city council and you can find that on our Facebook page.”
On campus, Hannah Hu, a second-year microbiology student at UC Davis, suggested that the flag was not necessary.
“Overall, I’m not sure, I honestly think that a flag for Davis is a bit unnecessary but if it’s something the community wants then that’s ok too,” Hu said via email.
On the other hand, Nathan McPaul, a fourth-year political science major at UC Davis, indicated support for the flag.
“A city flag would allow Davis residents to better identify with and understand the city’s character,” McPaul said via email. “The flag is something all residents share together and relate to. For example, Chicago’s city flag is very popular and has come to represent the city’s daily life. The Davis flag will encourage collaboration among residents while also encouraging the expressing of the residents’ personalities. The flag will provide unity and camaraderie among the population of Davis.”
Written by: Taylor Martinez — city@theaggie.org
