The flag

Flag

A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...

 of Madison, Wisconsin

Madison, Wisconsin

Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....

, was adopted by the municipal government on April 12, 1962. It consists of a light blue background bisected from lower left to upper right by a white band. These symbolize Lake Mendota

Lake Mendota

Lake Mendota is the northernmost and largest of the four lakes near Madison, Wisconsin. The lake borders Madison on the north, east and south, Middleton on the west, Shorewood Hills on the southwest, Maple Bluff on the northeast, and Westport on the northwest....

 and Lake Monona

Lake Monona

Lake Monona is a freshwater drainage lake in Dane County, Wisconsin surrounded on three sides by the city of Madison, Wisconsin and on the south side by the city of Monona, Wisconsin. It is the second-largest of a chain of four lakes along the Yahara River in the area and forms the south shore of...

 and the isthmus

Isthmus

An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...

 between them. In the center of the flag is a black cross which symbolizes the four lakes (Mendota, Monona, Wingra

Lake Wingra

Lake Wingra is a small lake located inside the city limits of the U.S. city of Madison, Wisconsin.The smallest of the five major lakes drained by the Yahara River in Dane County, Lake Wingra is bordered by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum on the south and west and the City of Madison...

 and Waubesa

Lake Waubesa

Lake Waubesa is one of the four lakes in Madison, Wisconsin. The lake has a surface area of slightly over ....

) as well as the state capitol

Wisconsin State Capitol

The Wisconsin State Capitol, in Madison, Wisconsin, houses both chambers of the Wisconsin legislature along with the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Office of the Governor. Completed during 1917, the building is the fifth to serve as the Wisconsin capitol since the first territorial legislature...

. Overlaid on the cross is an Indian

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 Sun symbol

Solar symbol

A solar symbol is a symbol which symbolises the Sun. Solar symbols can have significance in psychoanalysis, symbolism, semiotics, astrology, religion, mythology, mysticism, divination, heraldry, and vexillology, among other fields.Some solar symbols include:...

. (This symbol is similar to the sun symbols seen on the state flag of New Mexico

Flag of New Mexico

The flag of the state of New Mexico consists of a red sun symbol of the Zia on a field of yellow. The colors honor Isabella I of Castile, her Habsburg heirs and the conquistadors who explored in her name....

 and on the municipal flags of Wichita, Kansas

Wichita, Kansas

Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...

 and Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...

.)

The flag was designed by Rick and Dennis Stone, members of the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps

Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps

The Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps is a summer youth drum corps based in Madison, Wisconsin that competes in the Drum Corps International circuit. Founded in 1938, it is the third oldest corps in the DCI circuit, after the Cadets, and the Racine Scouts, founded in 1934 and 1927, respectively....

, with the help of John Price, their color guard instructor. In commemoration of the seventieth anniversary of the drum corps in 2007, the government of the city presented a flag to the corps, which has since then been kept in the care of a senior member of the corps who is a resident of Madison. Upon that member's departure, the flag is passed on to its next custodian on the steps of the State Capitol.

External links

• Resolution 4408 of the City of Madison, making the flag the official