FEBRUARY 28, 2026 — The City of Marysville, Kansas, is initiating a process to replace its official city flag, which has represented the community for over 50 years, reports KCLY Radio.
Mayor Todd Frye recently announced that the redesign will prioritize the involvement of local students, ranging from primary to secondary school levels, to foster civic engagement and a sense of communal ownership among younger residents.
According to the proposal, student submissions will be reviewed and narrowed down to a select group of finalists.
These concepts will then be refined by a professional artist before returning to the student body at Marysville Junior and Senior High, who will cast the final votes to determine the winning design.
Mayor Frye stated that the goal is to cultivate an “invested youth and involved youth in Marysville,” suggesting that such projects might encourage students to remain in or return to the municipality as adults.
“We want them to feel like the community represents not only their needs and wants now, but the things they will hopefully need and want as they grow and take the place over someday,” Frye said.
The current municipal flag appears to feature the black squirrel, an animal that has served as the city’s official mascot since 1972.
The mascot’s prominence is rooted in local folklore involving a 1912 travelling carnival and is codified in municipal law, according to the Roadtrippers magazine.
City ordinances grants these squirrels specific legal protections and symbolic privileges, including “the freedom to trespass on all city property, immunity from traffic regulations, and the right of first choice to all black walnuts growing within the city.”
Furthermore, the city code explicitly mandates that the city flag design include a black squirrel emblem.
