MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee is one step closer to getting a new flag.
The Milwaukee Common Council's Steering and Rules Committee passed a resolution to adopt a new city flag on Monday, Sept. 9. The committee voted 5-3 on the resolution.
You probably have seen the "Sunrise Over the Lake" hanging around Milwaukee, but it is not the official city flag.
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"A great time capsule, snapshot, from 1955 Milwaukee," alderman Peter Burgelis said. "A lot of it just isn't relevant anymore, it's not appropriate either."
A lot of people think the "Sunrise Over the Lake" flag is already the city’s official flag. It's also known as the "people’s flag."
"It's a new dawn, a new day for our city, it's where we're looking forward to the future," Burgelis said. "When it was in front of the Common Council years back the council decided not to adopt the flag at the time because of concerns about outreach and not letting everyone in the community have a voice and a say in the process of the design selection."
The design has been around since 2016, when more than thousands of people voted for the new look.
Years later, Burgelis is pushing to make it official.
"The design has been organically adopted by the community and it's time for the city to catch up, check that box and make it official," he said.
Bugelis said a modern design with a rising sun over the lake to represent the new dawn for the city and hope for the future.
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"I think it speaks for itself. The design has really won the hearts and minds of the public and the city," People’s Flag of Milwaukee initiative creative lead Steve Kodis said. "It just feels like the time has finally come."
If approved by the full Common Council this fall, the flag will officially be adopted by the city in January.