A Flag For Colombo
In his fascinating talk Why city flags may be the worst-designed thing you’ve never noticed, Roman Mars talks about how badly designed most flags are, particularly city flags.
He discussed five principles for designing flags and then redesigned some badly designed flags using these principles.
The five principles are (paraphrased by me):
- Keep it simple (a child should be able to draw the flag from memory, and the flag should be simple enough to fit on a 1-inch by 1.5-inch rectangle)
- Any symbols used should be relevant and meaningful
- It should have 2 to 3 basic colours
- There should be no letters, or seals (especially the name of the city or the place which it represents)
- It should be distinctive
Given that the flag of Colombo (Sri Lanka) also suffers from some of the deficiencies discussed, I thought of taking a shot at redesigning it.
Wait, what? Colombo has a flag?
The Colombo Municipal Council has a flag. It breaks several of the rules above, which might be why you don’t see it (much) flying around Colombo.
Let’s consider the cons first. Most obviously, it breaks Rule 4. The flag is simply the CMC emblem on a green background and displays “Municipal Council of Colombo”. It’s difficult for a child to draw (Rule 1). It also has many colours (Rule 3).
On the pro side, it does have two nice symbols (Rule 2) — which make the flag fairly distinctive (Rule 5). It has a Coconut Tree that represents both Colombo’s Coastal location and the importance of the Coconut Tree in Sri Lankan culture as a symbol of prosperity and utility. It depicts the Kelani River flowing from Sri Paada, again referencing Colombo’s geography and one interpretation of its name — the port on the Kelani River.
Would it be possible to fix the cons while giving more prominence to the pros?
Here are some options I designed. I start with the simple and progressively add complexity.
Symbols
To keep things simple, I thought of using only one symbol in the flag. The most obvious seemed to be the coconut tree. Since the dominant colours on the flag are green and yellow, I used these.
Here are three “Coconut Tree” versions:
Another interpretation of Colombo’s name is, Green Mango Tree Port. Hence, I tried a few options which have a Mango symbol:
I also tried the Mango Tree:
While the Tree seemed more elegant, it was complex and difficult for a child to draw. The Fruit, while simple, had an element of triviality.
Finally, I also tried symbolising Kelaniya. Since the river had no distinctive shape, I tried representing the famous Kelaniya Temple.
While quite a nice flag in many ways, the “Kelaniya” version had its issues. For a start, it felt a bit too Buddhist in a city which is quite multi-religious. Also, technically, Kelaniya is not in the Colombo District but in the adjoining Gampaha district.
So I settled for the Coconut Tree.
Colors
Here’s a three-colour version. It depicts a coconut tree on a beach. I like it because it feels “very Colombo”.
Here’s a more complex version, which brings in a setting sun (after all, Colombo is a “west-coast” city) and also mimics the colours of the Sri Lanka flag.
Some Other Candidates
Here are various other ideas I tried:
Concluding Thoughts
This article was a description of a fun, hobby exercise. I’m not a “proper designer”, and a “proper designer” fill finds all sorts of deficiencies in my ideas. Nevertheless, I found it very enjoyable and a good way to internalise Roman Mar’s ideas, which apply not only to flags, but to design in general.
Also, I have no idea how we might get the CMC to adopt this flag, or even if we should. Personally, I like the role of symbols in general and flags in particular, as powerful brand devices.
To be clear, on the one hand, I don’t see a well-designed flag transforming Colombo into the best city in the world. However, on the other hand, if Colombo does achieve greatness (whenever and however), I’m sure it will have an instantly recognisable flag which the world (not just Colombo-ites and Sri Lankans) will recognise.
Do you have flag ideas? What should Colombo’s flag look like?
Please “flag” your thoughts.
