Sixth grader designs flag for Anaconda – and asks for public's vote on final version
Hunter Miles, middle, holds up his original hand-drawn design of a flag for Anaconda. He's joined here by his classmates Ella Sullivan and Christian Lanes who assisted on the project. Leader photo: James S. Rosien
Here are the three variants the public is being asked to vote on as their preference for a flag for Anaconda. Variant 1. Courtesy graphic.
Here are the three variants the public is being asked to vote on as their preference for a flag for Anaconda. Variant 2. Courtesy graphic.
Here are the three variants the public is being asked to vote on as their preference for a flag for Anaconda. Variant 3 (it was the fourth variant, but beat out the original third variant). Courtesy graphic.
A sixth grader at Fred Moodry Intermediate School has designed a flag for Anaconda, and the public is being asked to vote from among three variants to decide on the final version.
Hunter Lanes, together with his classmates Ella Sullivan and Christian Lanes, had been part of the sixth grade leadership program at FMIS that was looking to do a project for the community.
"I was just kind of thinking of something to do when I realized we don't have a city flag," said Miles, who is quite the flag aficionado. "I had just watched a YouTube video about city flags. I just think it's a way to show who we are – our civilization, our history, things like that."
Originally there were quite a few more students involved, but the project narrowed to the three of them.
"It was a good thing in a way because me, Christian and Ella are kind of like minded. It's easier to get ideas with three than with 23," Miles said.
They started with hand-drawn designs and then used the websites Canva and Flag Creator to build professional versions of the flags.
"My original design was a configuration of the Irish and French flags – Irish because there’s a lot of Irish people here, and France colonized this whole area," Miles said. "I took inspiration from the Montana flag and other flags in the area."
Sullivan and Lanes also designed flags, with Sullivan saying she took inspiration from color and the meaning of color, while Lanes said his flag "was to fill in space with the better ones like Hunter's."
"If you’re going to make a flag, all the colors have to have meaning, and you don’t want them too crowded or too empty," Miles said.
"He's the flag Sheldon," Sullivan chimed in, referring to the character from the sitcoms Young Sheldon and the Big Bang Theory. He didn't disagree.
Asked what his favorite flag is, Miles said Mississippi "because it doesn't have writing on it. I hate writing on flags."
"It's his pet peeve," Sullivan said.
The three students presented their designs to the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Commission on Tuesday, where the commissioners, chief executive and county attorney praised their efforts.
"This is super important. It's great for the community. We've been talking about this for years and years and now someone has stepped up to do it," said ADLC Chief Executive Bill Everett.
The Commission asked though that the students – who had put their designs up on Facebook for the public's input – narrow the options further for the public to vote on them.
Three of the variants of Miles' design were the ones the students submitted for the poll, which the Anaconda Leader is hosting on its website, anacondaleader.com. Voting will run through June 24 and the results to be presented at the June 25 Commission meeting.
"Having the community's input is amazing for flags. It's a way for the community to come together," Miles said, adding that his goal was to make Anaconda's flag the best-looking city flag in America.
Be sure to go onto anacondaleader.com and vote for your flag preference before June 24.
Here is a link to the poll: https://www.anacondaleader.com/content/flag-anaconda-which-variant-do-yo...
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