Two Grade 9 students from Salmon Arm recently made waves in Tofino’s council chambers as they proposed a new flag design for the district.
In an email reviewed by the town’s municipal council on Nov. 28 the two students, who identified themselves as Anita and Katelyn, explained they have been studying the principles of flag design and learning what makes a good flag and chose Tofino’s flag for a redesign project.
“We were assigned to redesign municipal flags from around BC, and we chose Tofino because we have visited the town before and thought it was really pretty and a nice place to visit on vacation,” the pair wrote.
They added that they appreciated Tofino’s current municipal flag, which was designed by artist Roy Henry Vickers as a municipal logo in 1992 and adapted into a flag in 2002, but proposed their new design for council’s consideration.
Coun. Al Anderson thanked the students for their design, but suggested a larger process would be needed if Tofino ever decided to change its municipal flag.
“I appreciate the industry and artistry of the young persons and their initiative to submit a flag design for Tofino. For their benefit, I would have to say that, if Tofino was going to change their flag, we would enter into a design competition or put a call out,” he said. “I think if we just accepted flags as they came in, we’d be changing flags fairly often in Tofino. But, I would like to express my appreciation for their initiative.”
Coun. Ali Sawyer said the design was “very nice” and commended the students’ effort.
“They put a lot of hard work into it, you can tell,” she said.
Mayor Dan Law agreed.
“It’s great. It’s nice to think that Grade 9 students in Salmon Arm are thinking about our flag. It’s wonderful. Thanks to Anita and Katelyn,” he said.
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