Rick and Dennis Stone who were members of the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps designed the flag with their color guard instructor John Price.

[2] In a 2004 poll conducted by the North American Vexillological Association, the flag of Madison was rated 11th best of 150 major cities in the United States.

[3] Madison's flag experienced a resurgence beginning in 2015, when Madison Alder Maurice Cheeks authored and passed a resolution to require the flag to be flown on city property as part of a campaign to increase awareness of the symbol of local pride.

[4][5] That increased exposure led to concerns about the "cultural appropriation" of a symbol sacred to the Zia, as well as other Pueblo, mestizo Hispano, and many other native affiliated New Mexican people, so in 2017 Cheeks joined with fellow Alder Arvina Martin in spearheading an effort to modify the design of the flag.

"[2] The Common Council settled on a design that replaced the sacred Zia sun symbol with a gold disc.