News Release

FORT WAYNE — One initiative of the yearlong celebration of Allen County’s bicentennial is a flag design competition that will help inform the final look of a new official county flag.

The Allen County Bicentennial Executive Board began accepting flag design submissions on Jan. 1 via a portal on the county’s website. The portal will close at 11:59 p.m. Friday, March 29, less than three weeks away. When the submission window is closed, no additional designs will be considered.

All submitted designs will be evaluated by a committee of panelists — the Allen County Flag Design Council — appointed by the bicentennial executive board. That group will help narrow and hone the designs, which will then be passed back to the board to select the top five. Those top tier images will be shared with Allen County residents to collect a popular vote and for public comment. The findings from that crowd-sourced information will help inform the Allen County Board of Commissioners in the selection of the final image to be revealed and adopted on Flag Day, June 14, 2024.

“We’ve received such an array of submissions crafted by people with different backgrounds and abilities from professional graphic designers to elementary school students,” said Kaitlin Binkely, director of visual communications at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art and member of the Flag Design Council. “The design council is looking forward to the March 29 deadline so that we can begin taking the submissions and translating them into the best representation of Allen County — the place and its people.”

Anyone can submit up to three flag designs for consideration. They can be delivered to the Flag Design Council via email, online portal or mail. The competition rules and submission details can be found on the bicentennial webpage, allencounty200.com.