A small suggestion: Cover Raleigh in flags

File this under "Not very important in the grand scheme of things." However, this is a suggestion that I think could go quite a long way in further giving Raleigh a unifying symbol. My suggestion is simply to make the Raleigh city flag affordable and available to both business owners and citizens in order to show their civic pride.

Now, this isn't to say that one can't currently obtain a city flag. At last check, you can buy one from the city -- for something like $60 or more. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) But aside from a handful of municipal offices and the City Museum, can you name another place where a Raleigh flag proudly flies? I can't.

If the city sold the flags for about $20 or $30 (or gave them away!), I know I would proudly put mine on my house, as would a number of citizens. And think of the way Fayetteville Street would look if the flags flew from building after building. The visionary possibilities are endless.

Two such cities drilled home to me the importance of prevalant city flags: Washington, D.C., and Barcelona. In both cities, one can hardly go anywhere without being in site of their respective flags.

In American City Flags, D.C.'s flag (modeled on His Excellency's coat of arms) was ranked as the best city flag in the U.S. Raleigh's, by the way, came in at No. 56. Charlotte's was 66th, Greensboro 98th, with Pocatella, Idaho bringing up the rear at No. 150. Yikes.

Flags are perhaps the most tangible symbol of unity, passion and cause; this is no great secret. If Raleigh is to truly promote itself as an emerging 21st century city, it should take up its own banner in doing so. So, let this be a quiet launch to a campaign to cover the city in city flags.