Monday, December 20, 2004

Dissonance and New Albany's green and gold?

For those who may be curious about the description of the official New Albany flag, as described by Brandon Smith several times previously, here's the way the official ordinance describes it:

CHAPTER 11: CITY STANDARDS

NEW ALBANY FLAG

§ 11.01 DESCRIPTION OF FLAG.
A green background, symbolic of our green hills and of the many different kinds of trees native to our area and Indiana, on which the following are emblazoned: white shield edged in gold, symbolic of the character and courage of the varied nationalities of our ancestors, with a gold torch thereon, representing enlightenment and liberty; and the numerals “1813,” the year of the establishment of the City of New Albany, all within a semicircle of 19 gold stars, representing Indiana as the 19th state; and a gold pilot wheel in the lower right-hand corner, symbolic of our historic background as a river city.

(Res. R-62-7, passed 10-1-62)

As noted by Brandon's wife, Angie, all this bears more than a passing resemblance to the color scheme of Floyd Central High School, which is the Floyd County consolidated school and a bitter arch-rival of New Albany (city) High School, which has the colors of red and black.

The blame for this multi-hued anarchy surely must rest with Floyd Central, which came into existence five years after the resolution describing the city flag.

Ideally, none of this should matter one jot when it comes to reproducing the city flag as a symbol of our "Somehow Transform New Albany into Something Quasi-Weird" campaign.

However, we must remember that New Albany's unofficial city ethos (never codified, but tangible) is "Arrested Development," and this implies allegiances to high school that go far beyond the norm, particularly as they reflect high school basketball. Just ask Chris Morris of the New Albany Tribune.

A certain number of New Albanians probably won't accept the flag for this most petty and senseless of reasons. Do we attempt it anyway?

2 comments:

edward parish said...

Taking a poll for luring of Larry Linville to be the 2005 Harvest Homecoming Grand Marshall, in the green and gold of M*AS*H* no less. Secondly, where is this flag so I may see one? I have lived here in the area since 1979 and guess I have never seen one of these flags. Is it time to up date the design as well as the downtown area?

All4Word said...

All hail Prince Brandon the First.

What's the age requirement to be mayor? I would think it is 18 and when Brandon actually reaches his majority, we should put him up for election.

But then, running as an independent is the kiss of death and I'm not interested in a tilt at windmills. If he runs, it should be a run to win.

Imagine, city council meetings held at NABC...But Mayor Brandon would, of course, move immediately to make the pub a non-smoking establishment.

That's the trouble with ruling by fiat. There's always some malcontent ready to jump all over you. If hizzoner is Jethro, what would our Brandon be? George Clooney? Tyrone Power?