JUNE 20, 2025 — The City of Decatur in Indiana will unveil its newly selected flag design during Downtown Decatur Day this Saturday, says WZBD, marking the culmination of a months-long public contest.
The winning design was selected from 52 submissions. A committee first narrowed the entries down to three finalists, which were then put to a public vote that ended on May 16. The final choice reflects both the committee’s and the community’s preferences. The winning designer will receive a $1,000 prize.
The committee agreed with the public vote on the winning design, said City Council member Jenny Bowers-Shultz, who spearheaded the initiative.
Bowers-Shultz first introduced the idea of creating a city flag last fall with the goal of fostering a stronger sense of local identity. She said she hoped the flag would “foster civic pride, uniting the community around an official symbol representative of the history and promising future of the City of Decatur.”
According to details of the designs found on the voting page, the first finalist featured a colour scheme of blue, gold, and green. The blue stripe represented the St. Mary’s River, a defining natural feature of the city. The green symbolized agricultural vitality and growth, while the circular design element expressed continuity. The three segments in the design referenced the “Three Sisters” crops, corn, squash, and beans, important to the region’s Indigenous history. A single star represented Decatur’s role as the county seat of Adams County.
The second design centred on a gold star encircled by olive branches, symbolizing peace and reflecting the legacy of Stephen Decatur and the USS Decatur’s motto, “In Pursuit of Peace.” The olive branches also referenced the Peace Monument at the Adams County Courthouse. Three horizontal stripes flanked the emblem, representing the three U.S. highways that link Decatur to the wider region. The colour palette of gold, blue, and white drew from the Indiana state flag, while conveying themes of loyalty, prosperity, and hope.
The third finalist incorporated lime green, matching the city’s branding, and intersecting white lines representing Route 27 and the St. Mary’s River, symbolizing Decatur’s location at their crossing. A blue and yellow backdrop nodded to the Indiana state flag, and the blue also referenced the U.S. Navy, tying into the city’s namesake, Commodore Stephen Decatur Jr.
While the design has been chosen, it is still subject to formal approval by the city council, which is expected to vote on the matter during its next meeting on July 1.
