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Boise, Idaho (U.S.)

Ada County

Last modified: 2023-10-21 by rick wyatt
Keywords: boise | idaho | ada county |
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[Flag of Boise, Idaho] image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 27 January 2008
Based on www.nava.org



See also:


Current Flag

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 flag of Boise has a blue field with the city’s logo slightly below its center. A narrow horizontal white stripe extends from the lower half of the logo to the flag’s edges. The logo shows the dome of the state capitol in blue and white with trees on either side in the foreground. The capitol forms the upper half of the logo; behind it is a narrow gold ring forming a semi-circle around the logo’s top half. The spire of the capitol juts above the ring, which crosses behind it on the dome’s roof. The lower half of the logo intersects the horizontal white stripe, which is 8 units of the 48 units of the flag’s width. The white stripe has BOISE in gold letters about 5 units high above a thin blue line. Below the line is CITY OF TREES in blue letters about 3 units high. Below the white stripe, the gold ring continues on the blue stripe, completing a circle. The words on the white stripe extend on either side slightly beyond the circle formed by the gold and blue ring, 24 units in diameter. (Only an image of the logo was available in determining the flag’s design. The flag has been reconstructed based on an oral description from the city’s administration.)
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Symbolism

The capitol dome denotes Boise’s role as capital city of Idaho. The trees reflect its motto, “City of Trees”. The motto suggests the origin of the name of the city, corrupted from the French Les Bois, “The Woods”.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Selection

By the city council.
Flag adopted: March 2001 (official status uncertain).
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

Designer

Unavailable.
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003


Previous flags

[Flag of Boise, Idaho] 2:3 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.

An earlier flag designed by Mrs. Delton (Marguerite) Irish, was adopted by city council on 3 January 1972 and used until March 2001. This flag placed the city's seal of 19 units in diameter in the center of a blue field 34 units by 60 units.

The seal, which was adopted in the 19th century, is very elaborate. Its gold beveled edge has 60 small triangular gold points emanating from around it. The seal itself has a white field, and is heraldic in appearance. In the center is an ornate shield with gold edges. Four thin gold lines emanate from a tiny gold-edged blue rhomboid in the center of the shield, thus quartering it. The first quarter shows a golden yellow sunrise over the area's Shaw Mountain, with a cultivated field and cottonwood trees, in natural colors, to suggest the origin of the city's name, Les Bois. The second quarter has a white-winged caduceus with two brown snakes entwined around it on a green field, to represent the first doctors and medical missionaries in the area. The third quarter has a gold sheaf of wheat on a green background, to symbolize the area's agriculture. The fourth quarter shows a burnished gold cornucopia spilling out golden coins toward the dexter side of the shield, to represent the mining wealth of the region.

At the base of the shield is a small golden yellow ribbon with 1865 in gold numerals outlined in black. The dexter supporter is a white-bearded miner, symbolizing the gold rush and early mining development of the area; his left arm leans on the shield, his right arm holds the handle of a pickaxe to his side. A long-handled shovel lies at his feet, pointed toward the base of the shield. He wears a brown broad-brimmed hat, a light blue shirt with a scarf around his neck, and dark blue trousers. The sinister supporter is a soldier in full 19th-century uniform, commemorating Fort Boise as a military post; his right arm supports the shield, his left hand rests on his sword. His jacket and broad-brimmed hat are dark blue, his trousers a lighter blue, and his boots, brown. The shield and the supporters stand on a brown platform of hewn logs.

Immediately below the platform is a blue heraldic ribbon with BOISE CITY in gold, curved to follow the inner edge of the seal. At the top of the seal, curved along its inner edge, is a similar ribbon reading SEAL OF. Below this ribbon, in the crest position, is a brown beaver on a log, facing the hoist, commemorating an early name for the Idaho Territory, "Beaver Territory". Between the beaver and the shield is yet another blue heraldic ribbon with the motto in gold: PERIL, ENERGY, SUCCESS, summarizing Boise's settlement history. The seal was first colored by Mayor Eugene W. Shellworth in 1963; it was previously embossed or depicted only in black and white".
John M. Purcell, American City Flags, Raven 9-10, 2002-2003

[City seal] reconstruction by Daniel Rentería, 27 September 2023

According to this article by The Idaho Statesman, Boise's first municipal flag was first flown to the breeze on September 5, 1921, labor day, at city hall. As described in the article, it was white with a green border, and inside of it was "The City of Boise" in green letters. Based on this description, I did a drawing of what this first flag may have looked like. However, keep in mind this is only a reconstruction.
Daniel Rentería, 27 September 2023


Seal

[City seal] image located by Paul Bassinson, 5 July 2019

Source: https://www.weathernationtv.com
Paul Bassinson, 5 July 2019


St. Luke's Boise Medical Center

[St. Luke's Boise Medical Center] image by Tomislav Todorovic, 28 April 2020

St Luke's Medical Center is a major hospital complex in Boise and Meridian, Idaho.
Logo: https://www.stlukesonline.org/~/media/stlukes/logo/logo%20png.png
Information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Luke%27s_Boise_Medical_Center
Dave Fowler, 28 April 2020