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Fort Worth, Texas (U.S.)

Tarrant County

image by Rob Raeside, 22 August 2014
based on City of Fort Worth website, 15 July 2004

Description of the flag
1968-2004 flag
1912 flag
The seal
Diocese of Fort Worth
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport

See also:

Description of the flag

The city council of Fort Worth Texas, decided to change the flag of the city, making the new flag official on 6 July 2004.
Fred, 15 July 2004

1968-2004 Flag

4:7 image(s) by permission of David B. Martucci
image(s) from American City Flags, Raven 9-10 (2002-2003), courtesy of the North American Vexillological Association, which retains copyright.

Text and image(s) from American City Flags, Raven 9-10 (2002-2003), courtesy of the North American Vexillological Association, which retains copyright. Image(s) from American City Flags by permission of David B. Martucci.

Design

The Fort Worth flag is a horizontal tribar of light blue, white, and green stripes in proportions of 2:3:2. Across the top stripe, in black block letters, is FORT WORTH, occupying most of the stripe. Centered on the green stripe, in similar letters, is TEXAS. The white stripe displays a frontal silhouette of a stylized black “Texas Longhorn” head stretching nearly the entire length of the flag.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Symbolism

e blue stripe represents the space age to come (as foreseen in 1968). The white stripe depicts the Trinity River channel, and the green stripe symbolizes the green of the prairie. The longhorn head suggests one of the city’s nicknames, “Cowtown”, recalling Fort Worth’s early years, after railroads arrived, as a major center for the shipment of cattle.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Selection

The city council and the art commission co-sponsored a contest for a city flag, the winner to receive $250.
Flag adopted: 4 September 1968 (official).
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Designer

Winner of the prize for his design was Richard Pruitt, a commercial advertising artist and Fort Worth resident.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

More about the Flag

Of the 153 entries submitted in the flag contest, 42 finalists were displayed in the Fort Worth Art Center. The public voted for a favorite flag, but the judges chose a different design, since they were not bound by the public vote. The judges were Dr. Richard Fargo Brown, curator for the Kimbell Museum; Jack T. Holmes, a public relations executive; and Mrs. Edwin R. Hudson, Sr., president of the Tarrant County Historical Society.

In November 1969, a Fort Worth flag was taken to the moon on the Apollo 12 flight by Cmdr. Alan L. Bean, a former Fort Worth resident and a graduate of a high school there.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

1912 flag

image by Rob Raeside, 22 August 2014
Based on: www.fwcando.org

Description: The earlier flag of Fort Worth was apparently unofficial. A flag maker, J.J. Langever, designed it in 1912. Proportioned 4:7, the flag has a white field with three horizontal red stripes placed across its center creating alternating white and red stripes 25:3:3:3:3:3:25. Superimposed on the center of the field over the red stripes is an elaborate design in light blue (perhaps faded from an earlier darker blue). Centered above the lowest red stripe is a city skyline, its narrow sky filled with industrial smoke depicted over it. Resting on this portion is a sort of pillar on which a panther crouches, facing the hoist. A horse and a sheep support the pillar. Over the panther curves THE PANTHER CITY in blue. Centered above all is a five-pointed star, with half of each point shaded to give the appearance of three dimensions, and a halo of radiant lines around it. Below the skyline is a white rectangle bordered in blue, announcing "WE'RE FOR SMOKE", also in blue. All this is supported by what appears to be a white sphinx, an image popular at the time. Curved counter-clockwise below the image is another legend, ALL ROADS LEAD TO FT. WORTH, in blue. To illustrate this motto, 17 blue lines, apparently representing actual, individually labeled roads, emanate from behind the design in all directions.

The panther recalls another of the city's nicknames. "The Panther City", reportedly given to the city by travelers who had seen panthers in the brush near there, and even asleep on a city street, though no one seems to be certain about the name's origin. The "We're for Smoke" legend refers to the time before air pollution was a concern, when the city was courting heavy industry and factories with smoke stacks were common images of progress.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003 submitted by Jarig Bakker, 15 July 2004

Detail of image

A larger version of the flag was provided by Ethan Bell (click on image for larger version)

image by Ethan Bell, 15 May 2019

Diocese of Fort Worth

image by Eugene Ipavec, 11 February 2010

The Diocese of Fort Worth consists of 56 congregations serving 24 North Central Texas counties. The flag is purple with the diocesan seal in the center. The seal can be seen at stmatthews-comanche.org/history_diocese_fort_worth.htm which also includes a history and description of the seal.
Ned Smith, 21 September 2009

The seal

image located by Paul Bassinson, 31 December 2019

Source: http://fortworthtexas.gov/uploadedImages/City_Secretary/CITY%20SEAL.jpg
Paul Bassinson, 31 December 2019