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Rapid City, South Dakota (U.S.)

Pennington County

image by Masao Okazaki, 24 June 2018
Based on: rapidcityjournal.com

Current Flag
Former Flag
Detail of seal
Police Department

See also:

Current Flag

Rapid City flag gets redesign after being ranked one of the nation's worst
Source: Rapid City Journal
March 18, 2018

Rapid City has changed its flag, though no one is quite sure whether it was ever made official or when exactly it happened. City spokesman Darrell Shoemaker said some longtime city employees have guessed it was around 2010 or 2011.

The flag that garnered the abysmal rating [in the NAVA Flag Survey] — the words “Star of the West” at the top center in red, with “Rapid City, South Dakota” in blue underneath and the city’s seal, in gold, in the bottom center — was redesigned to be more visually appealing.

The result? What else but the faces of Mount Rushmore — sketched using blue lines akin to the etchings in rock on the true monument — with “Rapid City, South Dakota” below, and the nickname “City of Presidents” at the bottom. The white flag has gold trim at its bottom and top border. Though not present outside city hall, the flag currently rests in Mayor Steve Allender's office.
Located by Vexi-News, 25 March 2018

Former Flag

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.

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

Rapid City’s flag has a white field, 2 units high by 3 units wide. About a quarter-unit from the top Star of the West is centered in red, in a font resembling Brush Script MT, with its capital letters about an eighth-unit high. Another eighth-unit below that legend is Rapid City, South Dakota, centered in the same size and type of script, in dark blue. Centered in the lower half of the field is the city’s seal, all in gold on white. Its top is at the field’s midpoint and its bottom is approximately an eighth-unit from the flag’s lower edge. The seal’s diameter is 1.5 units; its outer edge is surrounded with 50 small triangles, points outwards, as if it were affixed to a document. Immediately within the outer edge is a ring about an eighth-unit in width. It is divided into an upper and lower segment, each with rounded ends that do not quite meet at the seal’s horizontal midpoint on either side, where a small white dot on the gold background marks the divisions. Arching clockwise in the upper segment is RAPID CITY, and curving counterclockwise in the lower segment is SOUTH DAKOTA, all in an Ariel-type font. The central disk shows Mount Rushmore National Memorial in outline. Centered above the memorial in small capital letters is INCORPORATED; centered below it is 1882.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Symbolism

“Star of the West” is the city’s motto. Mount Rushmore stands 35 miles southwest of Rapid City in South Dakota’s famed Black Hills. The memorial was carved between 1927 and 1941 under the direction of sculptor Gutzon Borglum to exemplify the first 150 years of American history. Depicting four U.S. presidents (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln), the memorial symbolizes the birth, growth, development, and preservation of the nation. The seal also commemorates the city’s incorporation in 1882. The indented edge of the city seal recalls the shape of the South Dakota seal on the state flag; its golden color recalls the outer rim of that seal. The other colors in the Rapid City flag—red, white, and blue—reflect those of the national flag.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003