Area native proposes a flag for the city of Ithaca 

A Dryden High School graduate who is now a junior at Clarkson University has a passion for flags and an idea for a design that could unify locals under one familiar symbol.

Benjamin Anderson, 20, who grew up in Dryden, spent a lot of time in Ithaca during his childhood, including trips into the city for rehearsals for Running to Places Theatre Company, known as R2P.

“I first got interested in making flags about a year ago,” Anderson said.

“If you type Ithaca, NY, into Google, the first thing you see is an image of a waterfall,” Anderson said. “It’s a neutral symbol, and the other thing about the waterfall is it makes the shape of an ‘I’ for Ithaca. So, I wanted to explore that a little bit, and explore putting [the letter I] on its side.”

He developed eight similar designs, six of which feature a waterfall that is blue and white. This was an intentional choice.

“The reason for the blue and white stripes was that Ithaca is named after a Greek island, so it parallels the Greek flag,” he explained.

Confident that he had a design that was both visually appealing and full of meaning, Anderson wrote a proposal and submitted it last May to Ithaca City Mayor Robert Cantelmo, who met with the young proponent of civic pride.

“The mayor seemed to like it,” Anderson said. “He seemed super onboard.” Anderson said he loves the idea of giving the mayor a necktie with the design to wear at an Ithaca Common Council meeting.

Since that initial meeting with Cantelmo the project has not gained much further traction, and Anderson said he would like to jumpstart the campaign again.

To this end, Anderson has launched an Instagram: @flagforithacany, a short informative video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HoBSN3gEg4g, and a petition, currently with 40 verified signatures (he is seeking 500): change.org/flagforithaca

Including white, there are seven colors in the proposed flag. Dark green represents nature.

Cherry red represents the “cherry Sunday” that was advertised by Platt and Colt’s in the Ithaca Journal in 1892. Though debatable, this is thought to be the first mention of the ice cream dish. “What a way would it be for Ithaca to stand its ground on its claim to the cherry sundae by putting it on its flag!” Anderson writes in his proposal.

Gold is for the Voyager golden record, dark blue represents Cayuga Lake, azure is the shade of blue on the Greek flag, and ice blue stands for the Pleistocene ice sheet.

“As many people know, the Finger Lakes were sculpted by glaciers which came down from the north and stopped right where Ithaca is located at the Valley Heads Moraine,” Anderson’s proposal states. “This is why our soil is so rocky and perfect for growing grapes. Without these glaciers we wouldn’t have these beautiful lakes, and Ithaca’s geological history deserves to be represented on the flag.”

“If somebody comes along with a way better design, let’s use that one,” Anderson said. “I want to be an activist for this, just get the word out that Ithaca doesn’t have a flag, and we need one.”

The civic engineering major made a large version of the flag with help from fellow Clarkson student Nicole Wing, who lent her sewing skills to the project in exchange for keeping any extra fabric.

Anderson pointed out that Rochester has a flag – a crane above three crescents with blue, gold and white stripes. Syracuse also boasts a city flag. In fact, it recently changed its flag from its city seal to an orange six-pointed star that symbolizes the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee and the six historical names by which Syracuse has officially been known. The Syracuse Common Council adopted the new design in 2023.

Among the concerns Anderson identified in his proposal are that Trumansburg residents might not like to see Taughannock Falls co-opted for the symbol of Ithaca.

Another foreseen criticism: That the design is too simple. “Flags are meant to be simplistic. Having too much detail prevents the flag from being easily drawable from memory,” Anderson said in defense of his design, adding, “If necessary, more details could be added to the flag if deemed too simple.”

In the end, Anderson hopes that his grassroots campaign will result in a symbol all Ithacans can be proud of, as “a great city deserves a great flag.”