JOURNAL OF GREAT WATERS ASSOCIATION OF
VEXILLOLOGY
December 2005
Vol. X, No. 2, Issue 20
DAYTON’S FLAGS SALUTE AVIATION PIONEERS
Dayton’s two flags, both the current and the former ones, recall that Wilbur and
Orville Wright, the inventors of the first airplane to fly, were Dayton
residents, the former having been born in Millville, Indiana, in 1867, and the
latter, in Dayton, in 1871. Both flags feature one of their airplanes: one that
flew famously (and briefly) at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1904,
and another that flew in 1917. Today both Ohio and North Carolina remind us of
the part the Wright Brothers played in each state with the mottos on their
license plates. Ohio boasts that it is “The Birthplace of Aviation,” while North
Carolina is proud to be “First in Flight.”
Dayton’s current flag was adopted on June 11, 1958, in Ordinance #19061, which
amends the Code of General Ordinances, Section 153, as follows: The following
design is hereby adopted as the official flag of the City of Dayton, Ohio:
Material: It shall be made of bunting or silk.
Dimensions: The standard size shall be three (3) feet in width and five (5) feet
in length.
Design: The flag shall be hung with the width fastened to the staff.
The entire field shall be of royal blue color. At a distance of six (6) inches
from the staff the word “Dayton” shall be superimposed in white on the field in
a vertical position. The word shall consist of block serif letters three and
one-half (3-1/2) inches high and seven (7) inches wide.
Centered on the field thirty-eight and one-half (38-1/2) inches from the staff
shall be a white gear. This gear shall consist of thirty-two (32) beveled teeth.
The gear shall have an outside diameter of twenty-nine and one-half (29-1/2)
inches, with teeth cut to a depth of two (2) inches.
Centered within the gear shall be a gray globe. The globe shall have an outside
diameter of nineteen and one-half (19-1/2) inches.
Superimposed upon the gear in royal blue shall be a representation of the
original Wright Brothers aeroplane, “The Kitty Hawk” in flight. This plane shall
have a wingspan of eighteen and one-half (18-1/2) inches. The plane shall be
flying away from the staff. The width of the tape or binding at the staff shall
not be counted in any dimensions. Flags manufactured in other sizes shall be in
the same proportions as outlined above.
The gray globe represents the influence that aviation has had around the world;
the gear stands for Dayton’s industry.
The flag was developed from designs submitted by Michael J. Spahr and Karen
Kress, winners of a contest sponsored by the Dayton Chamber of Commerce. They
and the incumbent mayor, William Patterson, were each presented with the new
city flag by Kenneth P. Morse, President of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce on
the day the flag was adopted.
This flag replaced an earlier flag, adopted August 15, 1917, in Ordinance #
10570, which is entitled “An Ordinance Adopting Designs for a City Flag and
Pennant,” the provisions of which follow:
SECTION 1. The following design is hereby adopted as a design of the official
flag of the City.
Material shall be (American made) bunting or silk.
Dimensions. The standard size shall be 10 feet in length and 6 feet in width, or
in proportions thereto.
Design. The flag shall be parted perpendicularly into three parts or bars, the
first and third bars to be each 30 inches wide, the second or center bar to be
60 inches wide. The first and third bars to be of a deep orange color and the
second or middle bar to be white.
Superimposed upon the middle bar or white field, shall be a circle of navy blue
2 inches wide and 50 inches in diameter, outside measurement, located on the
field within 5 inches of the top right and left-hand edges of the white field,
and 17 inches from the bottom edge. Within the blue circle and 1 inch removed
from it a circle in deep orange 1 inch wide.
The two circles shall be broken at two places by a flying aeroplane of the 1917
Wright model, with a spread of the plane of 54 inches; height of aeroplane, over
all, 17 inches; distance from upper edge of upper plane to lower edge of lower
plane, at center 11 inches, each plane to show height of 3˝ inches, leaving 4
inches clear between planes. In the upper left-hand corner of the white field,
the end of the upper plane to be within 14 inches of the upper edge of the flag,
while the other end of the upper plane, on the right hand side, to be 28 inches
from the upper edge of the flag, the whole effect to be that of the aeroplane
flying towards the observer, through and overlapping and extending beyond the
two circles.
Beneath the aeroplane and in a curved line the word “Dayton”in plain block
letters 4 inches high, in navy blue color, the bottom of letters to be within
one inch of the inner circle.
All superimposed designs shall be applied upon both sides of the flag.
The width of tape next to staff shall not be deducted from the first or orange
bar, the width of 30 inches being maintained.
SECTION 2. The city pennant shall be triangular in shape. The standard size
shall be 30 inches in length and 12 inches in width next to the staff, or in
proportions thereto. It shall consist of three parts, the first part next to the
staff to be 5 inches long, the next or middle part to be 15 inches, the third
part to be 10 inches. The first and third parts shall be of deep orange color
and the same as the City flag, and the middle part white. On the middle or white
field the word “Dayton” to be shown in plain block letters of navy blue color,
ranging from the letter “D”, 6 inches high to the letter “N”, 3 inches high.
SECTION 3. Authority to display flags or other decorations on, in or about the
City Hall or other public buildings is hereby vested in the City Manager unless
otherwise ordered by vote of the Commission. (JP)
