Flag critic pleased with Pocatello design

Pocatello has been vindicated.

“It is a fine flag and I hope to see it everywhere next time I’m up there,” said Roman Mars.

Mars is the vexillologist (the scientific study of flags) who inspired Pocatello to hoist a new flag, after he called it the worst city flag in North America” during a 2015 TED talk. That talk has been watched by more than 4.7 million people.

It inspired the city to create a flag committee, solicit ideas from the public, and then adopt a new city flag design. The committee was created in April 2016 and the new flag flew over city hall for the first time in September 2017.

During a recent episode of the radio show “99% Invisible”, Mars called the new flag “beautiful”. Mars was on hand for the Flag Design Ad-Hoc Committee’s first meeting in 2016. “They couldn’t have been nicer or more gracious,” Mars said. “I had a fantastic time there,” said Mars.

“To have Roman’s stamp of approval is icing on the cake,” said former Flag Design Ad-Hoc Committee Chair Logan McDougall. “We are excited about our new flag and appreciate his kind words.”

You can hear Mars’ latest comments here.