High flying spirit in flag design

Should it have stripes, stars, schools or some other symbol? And what about color? Maybe the greens of the Foothills or the blues of Southern California’s own Pacific Ocean? There’s a plethora of ideas and choices to be made, but the voters of the Crescenta Valley — unincorporated La Crescenta and Montrose — will ultimately select only one design.

This week kicks off the search for the ultimate design of the Crescenta Valley flag. A contest began Sept. 1 and continues through the month to design a community flag. Submissions must be postmarked by Oct. 1.

The contest is open to anyone across the country — including Alaska and Hawaii — or even in another country, said Robert Thomas, Crescenta Valley Town Council member, and the person responsible for the concept of a Crescenta Valley flag.

Thomas said he was driving along the Glendale (2) Freeway one day when he happened to notice a set of three flags flying on poles near the Harvey Drive In-N-Out Burger. One of the three flags was the Eagle Rock community flag.

“I got to thinking, Eagle Rock is part of Los Angeles, just like we’re part of Los Angeles. How come they get a flag and we don’t have a flag — we should have a flag,” Thomas said.

Thomas brought the idea to the Town Council, which is always looking for new ways to unify the Crescenta Valley area. A community flag seemed like just one more great way to do that, Thomas added.

The Council supported Thomas’ plan and set up a committee, co-chaired by Thomas and Council member Liz Arnold.

Alternate council member Charles Beatty was quick to jump on the flag bandwagon and join the community flag committee. “I think it’s a great idea,” Beatty said. “It will help give identity to our community and I think it’s well over due,” he added.

Although there’s not yet a flag, there are many places one could be flown, Beatty said. “We’ll be able to fly the flag at the Crescenta Valley Water District [where Beatty is a director] and at the parks, the new library and the Sheriff’s station,” he said, adding that anywhere there’s a flagpole is a good place to fly the community flag along with the American flag.

A set of 11 simple rules are posted on the Council’s Internet website: www.crescentavalleytowncouncil.org.

Thomas said the rules were made as simple as possible so people will be able to “think outside the box” and come up with some interesting ideas.

After the Oct. 1 deadline, the committee will select the preferred designs and have those available for the public to vote at the Nov. 1 Town Council elections. Voting is limited to the about 14,000 registered voters in the unincorporated areas of La Crescenta and Montrose.

ruth.longoria@latimes.com

(818) 790-8774 x19