June 14 is Flag Day in the United States. This means that we have  a ready-made excuse to go into an all time favorite Avocado topic: vexillology.

Today’s featured flag: the flag of Bellingham, WA.

From Cascadia Now:

The two stars on the flag represent the the two coastal Salish tribes: Lummi and Nooksack while the three wavy lines stand for “noisey waters,” the translation of “Whatcom” from Chief Whatcom of the Nooksack. When the flag is flown vertically, these wavy lines also become a depiction of Whatcom Falls. The Four green stripes represent the four original towns of Bellingham: Whatcom, Sehome, Bellingham, and Fairhaven. The blue half circle symbolizes Bellingham Bay which unites the four towns.

Nifty! A flag whose symbolism changes depending on the orientation it is flown.

The Bellingham flag, designed by the vexillological enthusiasts at LARIAT Creative, was adopted in 2017 after a year-long campaign. It got a boost of support from 99 Percent Invisible host, flag enthusiast Roman Mars.

It fits in the landscape of flags from nearby large Northwest cities, such as the somewhat cluttered and unremarkable Seattle flag (adopted 1990 for the Goodwill Games, hence the “City of Goodwill”)…

… and the older tres chic Portland flag, adopted 1969 but stripped to its original and more minimalist design intent not too long ago thanks to a team of vexillologists.

The four-pointed stars even look like the same ones.

The flag of Vancouver (Canadian version — as opposed to Vancouver USA across the river from Portland) is also similar. Adopted in the early 1980’s, it follows the busier style of the Provincial flags, with some elements common to the ones on the flag of British Columbia.

The black outline is a little unnecessary, in my opinion.

It features the same wave pattern as the Bellingham flag, though, and I do wonder if that’s where LARIAT Creative took their inspiration. Vancouver is just about an hour drive away, after all.

BONUS: Spokane may be the most recent candidate in Washington state for a new flag, with the city council voting earlier this week to adopt one by the end of the year. Check out the proposals here. I kinda like the lilac eyesore with the yellow sun.