Humboldt County is a proud place. We’re always going on and on about how special we are, and how everywhere else sucks bad. And there’s a lot of truth to it! This place rules very hard.

But what’s one thing we don’t have? Apart from a Trader Joe’s?

We don’t have any flags.

Humboldt County should have its own flag. Eureka should have its own flag. Arcata should have its own flag. Fortuna should have its own flag. Trinidad should have its own flag. Maybe even, like, Cutten should have its own flag. Orleans should have a flag. There should be flags for every place in the county that has a name and where at least one person lives.

It’s not like this is a completely novel idea. Lots and lots of sub-national and sub-state places have their own flags, even in California. Check out Yolo County’s badass flag:

Yep, even a place as generally miserable as Yolo County has its own flag, and what’s more it has a killer flag.

Orange County also has a great flag, though it gets a little busy around the seal.

It’s not just counties. Lots of cities have their own flags too. Check out Fresno’s cool flag.

Here’s Cupertino.

The point is, lots of places have flags and we do not. 

I have contacted various elected officials over the years and demanded that they get going on designating an official flag for the area that they serve. They’ve all blown me off. As I see it, there are two possible reasons for this. Either they lack imagination, or they are afraid of the inevitable dumb culture-war battles that will take place in their chambers during the design phase.

Enough. Today I call upon the public to rise up and demand official flags for —- at minimum — the county of Humboldt and every incorporated city therein. 

What would your Humboldt County flag look like? Show us a draft in the comments, please. Here’s the Outpost’s Izzy Vanderheiden’s first attempt. She’s completely open to your critique, so let her know what you think of it in the comments, please. Help her improve.