TKPK Newsletter: Thirty-five Years Later, the Takoma Park Flag Waves On

When then-Councilmember Hank Prensky traveled to Santa Marta, El Salvador in 1990—along with a delegation of approximately 40 other Takoma Park residents— he brought along with him a fistful of colorful 3”x5” flags depicting an oak leaf on a field of gold.

“We were organizing sister city relationships with rural areas in El Salvador as a way of building solidarity,” says Prensky, now retired and living in Burlington, Vermont. “I gave the Takoma Park flag away to the head of the village and the head of the FMLN [Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front], and all the people we met.”

Santa Marta may not be the farthest that the flag has traveled, but it is likely the first location outside of the Washington, D.C., region where it was shared as a symbol of goodwill from the people of our community.

Newcomers to Takoma Park may be unaware that the city has its own flag. Waving for 35 years now, the flag came about because then-Takoma Park Mayor Steve Del Giudice suffered from banner envy. When he went to the Maryland Municipal League convention, he noticed that other municipalities, such as Greenbelt and Rockville had flags. Why not Takoma Park?

So the call went out and 80 design submissions came back, 50 by school children. “There were representations of people shaking hands, doves for peace and lots of trees,” said Del Giudice, according to an August 1989 article by Kira Davis in the Takoma Voice. The flag committee was stumped, so they sent the finalists to the city council to decide and chose the winning bold design by Nancy Gurganus, a Silver Spring designer. Along with the glory of winning the contest, Gurganus was awarded $250.

“The center is an oak leaf,” Gurganus explained in the Voice article. “I wanted to show a tree or a leaf to depict the leafy neighborhoods. B.F. Gilbert, when he started the little community of Takoma Park a hundred years ago, wanted to provide a retreat from the swamp air of Washington, D.C., My primary goal was to reflect that kind of neighborhood.

“The blue band around the center diamond represents clean air and water that is such a concern here. I was thinking of Sligo Creek,” she continued. “The four green corners reinforce the idea of an incorporated community. The gold behind the leaf implies warmth for the friendliness and warmth of the community.

“The design is reminiscent of old-fashioned patchwork to keep alive the traditional spirit Takoma Park tries to foster and to commemorate the centennial of the foundation of the city government.”

The new flag was rolled out in May 1989 and distributed at the 100th July 4th celebration that year. It elicited a variety of responses from Takoma Parkers, from enthusiasm at the design to appreciation at the symbolism of a unified city (then split between two counties) to hostility to the very idea of flags.

The Takoma Park flag flew over the city throughout the 1990 centennial celebrations. Then-Recreation Director Belle Ziegler declared that this flag would be able to represent Takoma Park for the next 100 years.

“It needn’t be limited by history and calendar dates,” said Del Giudice. who passed away in 2015. “As creative as this community
is, the Takoma Park colors could flip in the breeze for almost any happy occasion.”

This article appeared in the July Edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. Check out this article and more on the City webpage.