[4] The idea for a Cleveland flag was first proposed by New York journalist Julian Ralph in an interview at the Hollenden Hotel with Plain Dealer reporter William Stokely Lloydon on April 24, 1895.

More than two dozen entries were submitted, including proposals with municipal seals featuring the Columbia-like goddess of liberty in classical Greek dress accompanied by Latin mottos.

[1] The contest winner was Susan Hepburn, an 18-year-old art school graduate and a descendant of American settlers of the Connecticut Western Reserve.

[1] Cleveland's municipal charter, adopted in 1913, describes the flag as follows: The Municipal emblem of the City shall be a banner of the following description and design: the banner shall consist of three (3) vertical stripes, of equal width, in color red, white and blue respectively, the red being nearest the standard and the white in the center.

The middle stripe shall bear the American shield with the word ‘Cleveland,’ in blue, across its center, and the figures ‘1796’ in red, at its base, encircled by a laurel wreath.

The municipal motto, "Progress and Prosperity", refers to the rapid growth that Cleveland experienced in the period of the flag's adoption.

[7] However, council members supported making the alternative design an unofficial "people's flag" of Cleveland.