FORFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 17, 2019
Contact: Kristen Schulze Muszynski
207-441-7638

Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap announces results of bicentennial flag design survey

AUGUSTA – Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap has closed the public survey seeking input on three proposed designs for the bicentennial commemorative flag, which will be on display statewide through 2020.

More than 6,500 people participated in the survey and expressed a preference for the design that depicts a variation on the original State flag of 1901. This design, which garnered 59 percent of the votes, comprises a simple depiction of a pine tree against a field of blue that represents sky, and lighter blue across the bottom that represents water. This design was submitted to Secretary Dunlap by a Portland resident and was modified to include the North Star and Dirigo banner in place of a single white, five-sided star.

The other two options in the survey were Secretary Dunlap’s design, which depicts three fields of color, in white, blue and green; and the Maine Bicentennial Commission’s Maine200 logo. These designs received 1,504 and 1,165 votes, respectively.

“Thank you to all who participated by casting a vote for one of these designs,” said Secretary Dunlap. “Public input is a very important part of this process and will be a major factor in my final decision on putting forward a flag that we can all rally around as we commemorate this special anniversary of statehood.”

Secretary Dunlap will now take the public survey results and other feedback he received during the survey period to make his final decision on the flag design. He will publicly announce that decision and present the final design to the Legislature and the Maine Bicentennial Commission next week.

The bicentennial flag is intended to be flown during the commemoration of Maine’s 200th anniversary of Statehood and is not a replacement for the current State of Maine flag. Secretary Dunlap sought public input as part of implementing Legislative Resolve Chapter 22 “To Create a Flag To Recognize the Bicentennial of the State.” This Legislative Resolve charges the Secretary with creation of “a commemorative flag in recognition and celebration of the bicentennial of the State, which became the 23rd State on March 15, 1820.”