West Plains, MO. – The West Plains city flag has received an A grade from the North American Vexillogical Association (NAVA).
In late 2022, NAVA asked its members and the public to rate the designs of 312 known flags (there are likely many more). From September 1 to November 30, 2,852 people participated in the online survey: 308 NAVA members and 2,544 public participants. They rated the design of each flag using a low-to-high scale of 0–10. The numerical ratings for each flag were averaged and the average rating was converted to a letter grade, with grades ranging from F (lowest) to A+ (highest).
The City of West Plains’ flag was one of 46 flags to receive an A grade.
The city flag was chosen and adopted in summer of 2019 after the city invited residents to design a new one.
“When we sought the community’s help to create a new city flag in 2019, we were looking for more than just a good design,” said Community Services Director Todd Shanks, who led a committee of residents who picked Isaac Protiva’s winning design. “We were looking for something distinctive and meaningful that represented West Plains, and Isaac’s vibrant symbolism of the historic downtown square provided us everything we were looking for.”
When Potiva’s design was selected for the new city flag, he stated the flag design “depicts a circle representing the community of West Plains unifying the divergent paths of the individuals that live here.” The design also draws inspiration from the unique design of the downtown court square in West Plains.
To see the complete results of NAVA’s survey, visit https://nava.clubexpress.com/2022-survey
