Frederick County, Maryland, will have a new standard strung up its flagpoles after soliciting new designs from a contest, the county announced this week.
Voting for the final round of the contest was held from May 5 until Saturday.
The old flag dated to a similar 1976 contest, which produced a red-and-white striped flag emblazoned with the figure of Francis Scott Key pointing to a blue circle containing the shape of Frederick County in yellow.
While that flag contest coincided with the national bicentennial, the new design was solicited to occasion Frederick County’s 275th anniversary.
The new flag ditches Key and the shape of the county, instead relying solely on colors and shapes. The winning design was submitted by county resident Marc DeOcampo, and features the red, black, yellow, and white prominent in the Maryland state flag. It won 35% of the 3,000 votes cast in the final round.
“I am thankful for the unexpected honor to have my flag design selected to symbolize our County. I never imagined spending an enjoyable afternoon designing flags with my teenage son would turn into a meaningful reflection of Frederick County as the crossroads of Maryland,” Mr. DeOcampo said in a statement.
The new design has, from top left to bottom left, a yellow, red, black, and white quadrant. Each quadrant is separated from the others by a colored stripe with an arrow point facing towards the center.
The yellow and red quadrants are separated by a white stripe, the red and black quadrants by a yellow stripe, the white and black quadrants by a red stripe, and the white and yellow quadrants by a black stripe.
The flag was subtitled as the “Crossroads of Maryland,” symbolizing both the straddling of geographic divides and the contrast between old traditions and residents and modern development and newcomers.
The flag will be rolled out at Frederick County facilities in the coming months.
Mr. DeOcampo, meanwhile, received a full-sized flag of his design and $1,275.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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