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HISTORY OF

The Rochester Flag

By CHARLES E. OGDEN

MCMXIV

During the administratioai of Mayor
Ouitler an official flaig was adopted,
which was kno'wn as the flag of the
Mayor. It Is of heavy 'white sillt, with
tihe seal of the city ia gold as its cen
ter. It Tvas oonsi'derod, and is stili oon-
sidered, the offlcial flag of the Mayor,
and it hangs against the wall in the
¦Exeou'tive lOhiamlber, suipported Iby a
heavy staff, .imaniediately iback of the
executive ohair.
T)here loame a time .wlhen the City ot
Rodhesiter iwas visited iwitlh a spirit of
geinnime emthnjisiasm for all its viariouB
umidepbakdnigis. Tlie .Ctiamlber of Ooim-
meroe, under the inspdrinig leadership
of iMor. iSyidney B. lOlark, its newly
'Chosen 'Secretary, placed itself at the
head 'of a movement to iboom the town.
"(Do it for iRodhegter" Ibecame the oiity
slogan, 'anid Rochester iwent 'on 'flhe map
fior icertaiin. We Ibecame a loomiveiatioii
city, wihicQi wii'dened oiur 'h'orizO'n, and
every inliaibiltant of the town ibeoame a
(booster, lin a sibort tiimie we found (We
iwere talked' albout all over ithe ooiuntiry
ibecauise 'of our enitlhnsiasm and enter-
iptniise. W'e also inaugnirated the indiustriial
exihiibi'tio'n Idea iduring this time 'of re-
viitvaiv and the lOhamlber of Oommeree
iheld its first expoisltion in the Fall ot
1908. .It (proived a genmine smooess. In-
diustrial Espoeitionis iwere also held (by
tlhie (Clhaim(be(r of 'Ooratnnerce in 1&09 and
19110 with great euocesa, thnis operuing
the way for the estaWistanent of a
penmaneeit Imdiustrial (Exposition at

Exposition iPank 'unider the adminis
tration 'Of 'Mayor Edgerton.
One of the Special Days of the Ex
position of 1910 was Rochester Day,
and a representative committee was
appointed to take charge of that day.
At a meeting of that committee held
August 27, 1910, the question of a
iRoichester pennant was brought u;p
and received the favor of the entire
committee. Secretary Woodward, of
the Chamber of Commerce, spoke of
the need of a city pennant. He said
that Philadelphia had one. "It is
true," he continued, "we have a Roch
ester flag, but it is not of such design
as would make It of service for the
many uses to which we could put a
Rochester pennant. Philadelphia and
many other cities have such pennants
and when we go convention seeking
we find their pennants conspicuous
everywhere. That is one of the uses
the Chamber of Commerce could
make of them. But the citizens could
use them. Automobilists could dis
play them on tours. They would
serve a thousand purposes at home
and away, and lielp advertise the
city." On August 30, 1910, Mr. J. Clif
ford Kalbfleisch reported to the Gen
eral Exposition Committee from the
Rochester Day Committee in favor of
a Rochester flag. "Rochester now
has a Mayor's flag, but no city flag,"
said Mr. Kalbfleisch. It was here that

the idea of a flag which might be
reduced to pennant dimensions was
first taken up and decided upon.
Designs were submitted by Mr. David
E. Spear, and the one which has since
become the Rochester flag was agreed
upon. "This flag," the report of the
committee said, "will be of great
service on gala days, at conventions
and on public holidays, and for dis
play by automobilists and tourists
generally." Members of the com
mittee expressed the hope that the
Mayor would officially designate this
flag as the flag of Rochester. Tt was
hoped that it might be completed In
time tor the Industrial Exposition so
as to form a part of the decorations
on that occasion.
The design submitted by Mr.
Spear, who was chairman of the
Committee on Floats, was that of a
flag of three-color sections, that near
est the fpiole toeinig 'blue, the next ¦wSiite
and the third gold. In the white
section Is set the crest of the Roch
ester family, beneath which is print
ed the word, "Rochester."
(Mayor H. H. Edgerton, on September
15, 1910, formally designated as offlcial
the new city flag, the design of ¦which
was submitted to bim Iby Mr. David B.
¦Spear, Jr. The ofiicial pronounceonent
is as follows:
"The flag represented by the colors
blue, wihite and gold, and bearing the

crest of the Rochester family, designed
by 'Mr. David B. Spear, Jr., I hereby
designate as 'the offlcial flag of the city
of Rochester.
"The blue represents our exceptional
'water and electric power; tihe white,
the cleanliness of our city, the gold,
our financial strength and industrial
prosperity. These colors form an artis
tic and handsome combination, and
give us a distinctive city flag, repre
senting the spirit of progress and de
velopment whiioh has become sueh a
coonplete part of Rochester. The flag
can be used to great advantage on all
public occasions. It will help to
stimulate the Rochester idea, and add
to our real patriotism.
(Signed) "(H. H. EDGERTON, "Mayor."
Thus the Rochester City Plag dates
from September 15, 1910, when it
was officially designated as such by
Mayor Edgerton. It forms a very at
tractive addition to general decora
tions for all pu'bllc banquets, meet
ings and conventions. It is exten
sively used for such purposes and
gives a distinctive Rochester flavor
to Rochester events. A very attract
ive little pin has been made from the
design, which can be worn to advant
age by citizens on all city days.
^ The Rochester Chamber of Com
merce accepted the design of the flag
by formal resolution of its board ot
trustees on September 19, 1910.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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