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Glendale, California (U.S.)

Los Angeles County

Last modified: 2023-06-10 by rick wyatt
Keywords: glendale | california | los angeles county |
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[flag of Glendale, California] 2:3 image(s) by permission of David B. Martucci
image(s) from American City Flags, Raven 9-10 (2002-2003), courtesy of the North American Vexillological Association, which retains copyright.

See also:

Current Flag

Text and image(s) from American City Flags, Raven 9-10 (2002-2003), courtesy of the North American Vexillological Association, which retains copyright. Image(s) from American City Flags by permission of David B. Martucci.

Design

Glendale’s flag has a bright yellow field with the city seal slightly above the center. Below the seal appears CITY OF GLENDALE in blue block letters. On a field of 4:6 units, the letters are half of a unit in height, and stretch across the field for 5 units, centered horizontally. The diameter of the seal is 2.3 units. It is divided into four equal quarters on a yellow field by a slender four-pointed star, its arms divided vertically into light blue and dark blue. Beginning with the top ray, the blue colors alternate, beginning with light blue on the hoist side of the ray, so opposing rays are exactly opposite in coloration. Overlaid on the star’s center is a small, angular shield bordered in yellow. On it is a dark blue peacock on a light blue field, seen from behind, its head in profile toward the fly, and its tail reposing on the ground behind it. Perched atop the shield is a highly stylized American eagle all in yellow, wings outspread, and head lowered, peering toward the fly. The first quarter shows Glendale’s city hall, white shadowed in blue, with green bushes around it. The second quarter shows a yellow California bear, outlined in blue and standing on green grass, a single five-pointed star over its head, in imitation of the same figures on the state flag. The third quarter shows a water pump in white, outlined in brown, with blue water pouring from it, and enclosed in a blue ring. A white fist clutches three blue bolts of lightning at 2 o’clock on the ring above the water. The fourth quarter depicts the historic Casa Adobe in blue with a yellow roof and green trees and shrubs around it and blue mountains in the background.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Symbolism

The yellow suggests sunshine; blue, the folded hills. The peacock on the seal recalls Glendale’s winning float in the shape of a peacock in the 1924 Tournament of Roses parade, when the city was the first ever to win a Sweepstakes Prize. The American eagle over the shield represents the United States. The depiction of city hall represents city government; the bear and star, the state of California. The water pump and lightning bolts suggest hydroelectric power. Casa Adobe is a historic home originally built for Tomás Sánchez, first sheriff of Los Angeles County, and his wife, Marìa Sepálveda de Sánchez. It was restored in 1932 and is now a museum. The mountains are the region’s Verdugo Mountains.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Selection

Chosen by Mayor Perkins.
Flag adopted: 2001 (official status uncertain).
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Designer

Unknown
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Variants of the flag

[former flag of Glendale, California]   [former flag of Glendale, California] images by Masao Okazaki, 28 May 2023

The flag of Glendale appears to have two versions: a recent gold and green version and an earlier yellow and version flag.
Recent photos of the gold and green flag:
https://static.wixstatic.com/media
https://pbs.twimg.com/media
https://www.glendaleca.gov

Photo of yellow and white flag dated 2013 from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org
Masao Okazaki, 28 May 2023

Former flag

The first flag of Glendale features only the shield element of the city seal on a pale yellow field, described as buff in old records, and bordered on all sides except the hoist with a border, described as “amethyst blue”, although more likely sapphire blue was meant. The distinctive angular shield is bordered in a pattern of yellow, blue, yellow. The shield’s field is a light blue; the peacock, in natural colors. On a field of 3 units by 3.5 units, the shield is 1 unit across, horizontally, in its center. Written in white, linked, calligraphic letters that vary between .5 and .25 units high, depending on the size of the letter, is Glendale, slanted from the mid-section of the shield to its upper quarter; centered across the bottom, in white script letters about one-fifth as high as the others, is California. The eagle perched on the shield’s top has patriotic wings, with 8 five-pointed white stars on blue over 6 red and 5 white stripes on its hoist wing, and 6 stars and an equal number of stripes on its fly wing. Below the shield is a heraldic ribbon in white, outlined in blue, with THE JEWEL CITY across it in dark blue.

This flag was designed by Hugh A. Maron, who won $100 in a contest sponsored by Charles L. Peckham and business associates. It was officially adopted by the city council on 18 September 1924, amid enthusiasm for the city’s winning peacock float at the Tournament of Roses that same year. (There is no indication that this ordinance has ever been repealed officially.) The city seal was changed in the same legislation so that the central portion of the previous seal, a star, would be replaced by the new shield-and-peacock design, as on the current flag.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Detail of Seal

[seal of Glendale, California] image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 23 February 2008

Former Flag

[former flag of Glendale, California] 1:1 image(s) by permission of David B. Martucci
image(s) from American City Flags, Raven 9-10 (2002-2003), courtesy of the North American Vexillological Association, which retains copyright.

The first flag of Glendale features only the shield element of the city seal on a pale yellow field, described as buff in old records, and bordered on all sides except the hoist with a border, described as “amethyst blue”, although more likely sapphire blue was meant. The distinctive angular shield is bordered in a pattern of yellow, blue, yellow. The shield’s field is a light blue; the peacock, in natural colors. On a field of 3 units by 3.5 units, the shield is 1 unit across, horizontally, in its center. Written in white, linked, calligraphic letters that vary between .5 and .25 units high, depending on the size of the letter, is Glendale, slanted from the mid-section of the shield to its upper quarter; centered across the bottom, in white script letters about one-fifth as high as the others, is California. The eagle perched on the shield’s top has patriotic wings, with 8 five-pointed white stars on blue over 6 red and 5 white stripes on its hoist wing, and 6 stars and an equal number of stripes on its fly wing. Below the shield is a heraldic ribbon in white, outlined in blue, with THE JEWEL CITY across it in dark blue.

This flag was designed by Hugh A. Maron, who won $100 in a contest sponsored by Charles L. Peckham and business associates. It was officially adopted by the city council on 18 September 1924, amid enthusiasm for the city’s winning peacock float at the Tournament of Roses that same year. (There is no indication that this ordinance has ever been repealed officially.) The city seal was changed in the same legislation so that the central portion of the previous seal, a star, would be replaced by the new shield-and-peacock design, as on the current flag.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003