Flag of Detroit, Michigan

The flag of the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan was adopted in 1948. It was designed in 1907 by David E. Heineman.

The flag has the city seal emblazoned on quartered background, with each section representing a country that once controlled the city. The lower hoist quarter represents France, which founded the fort and settlement in 1701; it has five gold fleurs-de-lis on a white field. The upper fly quarter represents the Kingdom of Great Britain, which controlled the fort from 1760 to 1796; it has three gold lions on a red field. The lower fly and upper hoist quarters represent the United States; they have 13 stripes and stars, respectively, representing the original thirteen colonies.

The two Latin mottos read "Speramus Meliora" and "Resurget Cineribus", meaning "We hope for better things" and "It will rise from the ashes." The seal is a representation of the Detroit fire of June 11, 1805 in which the entire city burned with only one building saved from the flames. The figure on the left weeps over the destruction while the figure on the right gestures to the new city that will rise in in its place.

In the original design of the flag, the seal was oval. In the early 1970's, the flag was redesigned and the seal was changed to a circle. In approximately 2000, the seal was again changed to reduce the number of colors.

External links

* [http://www.detroithistorical.org/learningcenter/curriculummaterials/detroitsstory/a1.pdf Information from Detroit Historical Museum] (pdf)