Flag of Los Angeles

The three colors on the flag represent olive trees (green), orange groves (gold) and vineyards (red).[2] They also symbolize the history of the city, with gold and red representing Spain, the country who first settled in the city and green and red representing Mexico, who took over when New Spain achieved independence.[3] Mexico and Spain both controlled the city The city seal is shown in the center of the flag. Surrounding the shield are representations of three major Californian crops: grapes, olives, and oranges. The seal contains a heraldic shield quartered showing:

1. an approximation of the shield shown on the Great Seal of the United States, though the blue chief features thirteen stars;
2. an approximation of the flag of California;
3. an approximation of the coat of arms of Mexico;
4. a tower and lion of the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of León, representing the arms of Spain.

The flag, designed by Roy E. Silent and E.S. Jones, was presented to the city by the La Fiesta Association for the city's sesquicentennial anniversary. The seal on the flag was officially adopted on March 27, 1905.[3] The flag received brief international prominence when, during the closing of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, it was raised instead of the United States flag as a symbol of the next Olympic host.[4] The move was done upon the request of the United States government, which asked the International Olympic Committee to not use the American flag, in that the U.S. had boycotted of the Moscow Olympics. [5] A Los Angeles flag was taken to space in 1984 by Sally Ride, on the Space Shuttle Challenger. It is on display in the Los Angeles City Hall.[6] In a 2004 North American Vexillological Association survey, the design ranked 33rd out of 150 American city flags.[7]

• Flags of cities of the United States

• Official website