New Flag for San Francisco
Inspired by Roman Mars' famous episode of 99 Percent Invisible, which is now a TED talk, I came up with this concept for an alternate flag for San Francisco, where I live.
The white and orange bars represent the two bridges of SF: the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge. The golden star represents both a gold nugget as well as the phoenix rising from the red ashes of the great fires of San Francisco.
The seven points of the star are for the main seven hills of the city. The city is also 7 x 7 miles wide and tall, and 7 x 7 is equal to 49, referencing 1849, the year most commonly associated with the California gold rush.
Lastly, the star represents the setting sun of the West coast, against the white of the rolling fog that the city is known for.
Here's the link to the TED talk by Roman Mars:
http://www.ted.com/talks/roman_mars_why_city_flags_may_be_the_worst_designed_thing_you_ve_never_noticed?language=en