San Bernardino County Board adopts new county flag

For the first time in 40 years a new flag will fly in front of San Bernardino County government buildings.

The Board of Supervisors on Dec. 3 adopted a new county flag, the third in the county’s 171-year history and the first since the current flag was adopted in 1984.

The new flag was designed by the County Administrative Office Design Team with input from county leadership. The banner incorporates five stars representing the county’s five supervisorial districts, the county’s arrowhead logo, the 1853 date of the county’s establishment, a silhouette of mountains representing the county’s mountain communities, and gold and blue stripes representing the county’s desert and valley communities.

“I’m proud of our new county flag and I look forward to seeing it fly at county offices and proudly displayed in our meeting rooms,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman and Third District Supervisor Dawn Rowe. “The stars and stripes celebrate the unique diversity of our geography and communities and the colors are bold and distinct in a way befitting the nation’s largest county.”

The current county flag was adopted by the board on Aug. 27, 1984, in celebration of the opening of the County Government Center in San Bernardino, which was also marked by the introduction of a county logo, which is printed on the flag. The county stopped using the logo during the late 1990s, but it remained on the flag.

Some versions of the flag were created using the county seal, but those versions were never approved by the board. To protect against the creation of alternative county flags, the board on Tuesday also a adopted a flag policy that defines the flag in precise detail and governs its use along with the U.S. and state flags.

The board adopted the first county flag on April 23, 1973. Like the new flag, it included a scalloped arrowhead logo, the 1853 date and a silhouette of mountains.

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