page_title: Flag of San Francisco
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Flag of San Francisco / History
caption_attribution_description: English: This photograph originally appeared in the Overland Monthly (October 1929). See article at https://archive.org/stream/overlandmonthlyo87sanfrich#page/308/mode/2up
context_page_description: The flag of the City and County of San Francisco, which depicts a rising phoenix, is often assumed to be symbol of the city's recovery from the 1906 earthquake and subsequent fires. However, the flag traces its origins to 1900. The Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco codified the design of the current flag on December 16, 1940.
context_section_description: In 1900, banker and art patron Mayor James Duval Phelan, mayor from 1897 to 1902, recommended to the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco that San Francisco adopt a flag and motto. A contest was held, and more than one hundred proposals were submitted. Policeman John M. Gamble's proposal was selected.
  Gamble's concept depicted a black phoenix rising from gold flames on a white field. The mythological phoenix appears in many ancient cultures and is a symbol of immortality. When the long-lived phoenix feels death is near, it builds a nest of aromatic wood and sets it afire. A new phoenix then arises from the ashes, just as San Francisco arose from the great fires of the 1850s.
  Below the phoenix and flames, the Spanish motto "Oro en paz y fierro en guerra" ("Gold in Peace and Iron in War") was on a black ribbon. The motto refers to the city's then-recent experience during the Spanish–American War as the embarkation point for troops to the Philippines in 1898.
  Based on the motto, San Francisco's official city colors now are gold and black; these two colors decorate the dome of San Francisco City Hall.
caption: 1929 replacement copy of original 1900 San Francisco flag designed by Robert Ingersoll Aitken.
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