{"id":3407,"date":"2016-07-14T08:53:46","date_gmt":"2016-07-14T12:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=3407"},"modified":"2025-04-18T11:04:26","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T15:04:26","slug":"city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/","title":{"rendered":"City flag sparked six-decade romance"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Susan<\/a>
Susan Hepburn is shown as a teen and an adult in this 1941 illustration. (The Cleveland Plain Dealer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Republicans and Democrats will soon gather for their national political conventions in Cleveland, Ohio, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, respectively. There are sure to be plenty of American flags and lots of red-white-and-blue bunting on display. But what about the flags of the municipalities welcoming the delegates? In one case, a city flag<\/a> actually kindled a romance that lasted more than six decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cCleveland should have a civic emblem \u2013 a Cleveland flag<\/a>,\u201d said the opening sentence of an article in the city\u2019s Plain Dealer newspaper on April 26, 1895. The need for a city flag was \u201cthe consensus of opinion in every direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Clevelanders realized, the story continued, is that their hometown had \u201cno distinguishing emblem that represented the thriving city\u201d on Lake Erie. The pressure to make a swift decision on a design for a municipal flag arose from the fast-approaching 1896 centennial of the city. It had been founded in 1796 (now 220 years ago) by Moses Cleaveland.<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/a>
Members of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce show off the new city flag in 1895. (Western Reserve Historical Society)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After a prize of $50 was offered to the winning designer of the municipal flag, more than two dozen suggestions came into City Hall. The judges rejected those that were so busy with symbols as to be incomprehensible and entries that included the American flag<\/a> in the design. Also tossed aside were all-white banners, which were deemed to be dirt-catchers that would literally smudge the name of the city.<\/p>\n

\"Cleveland's<\/a>Finally, the judges came to a unanimous decision, and the city had its banner. It debuted not in Cleveland, but at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. There was also another Cleveland on hand: President Grover Cleveland, who officially opened the fair.<\/p>\n

\"American<\/a>
American flags decorate the Cotton States brochure.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The winner of the flag contest was Susan Hepburn, a Cleveland teenager who was an art school graduate there, but who was then living in Columbus. A Plain Dealer reporter, Robert Beach, was dispatched to deliver the prize money to her in the form of 50 silver dollars, which he clumsily spilled on the floor.<\/p>\n

Hepburn\u2019s banner consists of three vertical bars, colored red, white and blue, a feature the judges loved because the stripes ran counter to Old Glory\u2019s. In the center lies the Cleveland coat of arms. It also has the name of the city in blue and its founding year in red.<\/p>\n

Two sets of images lie above the date: an anvil, hammer and wheel on the left; an anchor, windlass and oars on the right. Those items reflect Cleveland\u2019s industrial and maritime pluses by virtue of being situated on a Great Lake. Under the images and words is a motto: \u201cProgress and Prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"City<\/a>
City officials prepare to hoist an American flag to mark Cleveland’s centennial in 1896. (Western Reserve Historical Society)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Plain Dealer assured its readers that \u201cCleveland may well be proud of its new emblem and the fame of the city cannot but be enhanced by its display.\u201d<\/p>\n

Susan Hepburn made some progress and prosperity of her own. Less than a year after her winning flag design was chosen, the teenager married the reporter who had given her the $50 in silver. The duo remained together well into their golden years, not separating until his death 63 years after they wed.<\/p>\n

(Next week: Philadelphia\u2019s city flag.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republicans and Democrats will soon gather for their national political conventions in Cleveland, Ohio, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, respectively. There are sure to be plenty of American flags and lots of red-white-and-blue bunting on display. But what about the flags of the municipalities welcoming the delegates? In one case, a city flag actually kindled a romance… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[319,366,285],"class_list":["post-3407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-city-flag","tag-cleveland-flag","tag-municipal-flag"],"yoast_head":"\nCity flag sparked six-decade romance - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"City flag sparked six-decade romance - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Republicans and Democrats will soon gather for their national political conventions in Cleveland, Ohio, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, respectively. There are sure to be plenty of American flags and lots of red-white-and-blue bunting on display. But what about the flags of the municipalities welcoming the delegates? In one case, a city flag actually kindled a romance... continue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-14T12:53:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-18T15:04:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Susan-Hepburn-is-shown-as-a-teen-and-an-adult-in-this-1941-illustration.-The-Cleveland-Plain-Dealer.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"677\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/\",\"name\":\"City flag sparked six-decade romance - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Susan-Hepburn-is-shown-as-a-teen-and-an-adult-in-this-1941-illustration.-The-Cleveland-Plain-Dealer.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-14T12:53:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-18T15:04:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Susan-Hepburn-is-shown-as-a-teen-and-an-adult-in-this-1941-illustration.-The-Cleveland-Plain-Dealer.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Susan-Hepburn-is-shown-as-a-teen-and-an-adult-in-this-1941-illustration.-The-Cleveland-Plain-Dealer.png\",\"width\":350,\"height\":677,\"caption\":\"Susan Hepburn is shown as a teen and an adult in this 1941 illustration. (The Cleveland Plain Dealer)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"City flag sparked six-decade romance\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\",\"name\":\"James Breig\",\"description\":\"James Breig is a veteran author who specializes in history. His most recent book is \u201cStar-Spangled Baseball: True Tales of Flags and Fields\u201d about the links between the sport and flags. He is also the author of a nonfiction book about WWII, \\\"Searching for Sgt. Bailey: Saluting an Ordinary Soldier of World War II\\\" and co-author of \\\"The Mystery of the Multiple Mothers,\\\" a novel. All three are available at www.amazon.com. His articles have appeared in newspapers and national magazines, including the Colonial Williamsburg Journal (search for them at www.history.org\/journal) and History Magazine. He has won many national awards for his opinion writing, media columns and feature articles.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/author\/james\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"City flag sparked six-decade romance - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"City flag sparked six-decade romance - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","og_description":"Republicans and Democrats will soon gather for their national political conventions in Cleveland, Ohio, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, respectively. There are sure to be plenty of American flags and lots of red-white-and-blue bunting on display. But what about the flags of the municipalities welcoming the delegates? In one case, a city flag actually kindled a romance... continue","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/","og_site_name":"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","article_published_time":"2016-07-14T12:53:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-18T15:04:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":350,"height":677,"url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Susan-Hepburn-is-shown-as-a-teen-and-an-adult-in-this-1941-illustration.-The-Cleveland-Plain-Dealer.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"James Breig","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James Breig","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/","name":"City flag sparked six-decade romance - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Susan-Hepburn-is-shown-as-a-teen-and-an-adult-in-this-1941-illustration.-The-Cleveland-Plain-Dealer.png","datePublished":"2016-07-14T12:53:46+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-18T15:04:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Susan-Hepburn-is-shown-as-a-teen-and-an-adult-in-this-1941-illustration.-The-Cleveland-Plain-Dealer.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Susan-Hepburn-is-shown-as-a-teen-and-an-adult-in-this-1941-illustration.-The-Cleveland-Plain-Dealer.png","width":350,"height":677,"caption":"Susan Hepburn is shown as a teen and an adult in this 1941 illustration. (The Cleveland Plain Dealer)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/city-flag-sparked-six-decade-romance\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"City flag sparked six-decade romance"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/","name":"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a","name":"James Breig","description":"James Breig is a veteran author who specializes in history. His most recent book is \u201cStar-Spangled Baseball: True Tales of Flags and Fields\u201d about the links between the sport and flags. He is also the author of a nonfiction book about WWII, \"Searching for Sgt. Bailey: Saluting an Ordinary Soldier of World War II\" and co-author of \"The Mystery of the Multiple Mothers,\" a novel. All three are available at www.amazon.com. His articles have appeared in newspapers and national magazines, including the Colonial Williamsburg Journal (search for them at www.history.org\/journal) and History Magazine. He has won many national awards for his opinion writing, media columns and feature articles.","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/author\/james\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3407"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6038,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3407\/revisions\/6038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}