Young resident wants Gilford to adopt new banner

GILFORD — At the next Town Meeting, one of the petitioned warrant articles, to adopt an official town flag, is the result of a several years-long effort, and was spearheaded by one of the youngest people eligible to vote on the question.

Darren Brown, a senior at Gilford High School, is the person behind the campaign. He’s also the designer of the flag in question, and, said Town Administrator Scott Dunn, he’s been working for years to have his flag flying atop the town’s pole.

“He has, over the years, submitted several designs to the selectmen as consideration as the town flag,” Dunn said. He added that the town has a flag that has been “historically considered the town flag,” but it was never officially adopted by the town.

The flag that Dunn referred to is known as the “Guilford Courthouse Flag,” which flew at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, on March 15, 1781, in Greensboro, North Carolina. The town of Gilford was named by a veteran of that battle, said Dunn, and thus the town has flown the flag during historical celebrations.

The Guilford Courthouse flag is similar to early versions of what became the American flag. The Guilford flag features blue and red horizontal stripes, with a white box in the top left corner filled with 13 blue stars.

It’s not the type of flag that appeals to Brown.

“I love flags, I love flags a lot,” he said. His interest was sparked in sixth grade, when a teacher had students examine flags from around the world. “I was never the same since,” Brown said.

A lifelong resident of Gilford, Brown said it seemed as though something’s missing without an official town flag.

“A flag means many things for a lot of people. A country isn’t complete without a flag, like how something between the bread is what’s needed for a sandwich,” Brown said. “The reason why I wanted to make the flag is, we didn’t have one. It felt kind of empty.”

Brown prefers simple flag designs, such as France’s flag. He likes the simple design, yet how each element of the layout symbolizes something about the nation it represents.

“I was thinking in my head, how do you represent all of Gilford with one simple flag?” His ponderings led him to the shape of a triangle, which is inspired by the town’s mountains. Brown’s flag features a green triangle, for the forests, along the bottom; a blue triangle in one corner for the lakes; a gold triangle in the opposite corner representing labor, agriculture and craftsmanship, and; a white chevron, for the mountains, dividing the three blocks of color.

“A lot of people actually love it,” Brown said. “They saw this flag and said, oh this is so cool. A lot of people thought it was already adopted because of how cool it was.”

It’s one thing to make a flag, it’s another to make it official, he’s learned.

“When he presented that to the selectmen, the selectmen encouraged him to pursue a petition,” Dunn said. Brown succeeded in collecting enough signatures from other townspeople to get the question put on the Town Warrant for the next Town Meeting. “If the voters adopt it, it’s a done deal,” Dunn said.

Based on the reactions his design has been getting, Brown is optimistic.

“I had a dream to make history, to do something for the town someday, to give them something they would enjoy. This is it right here,” Brown said. “I bet that people will start flying this flag in no time.”

He added that he hopes that his campaign will inspire others, and that soon each town and city will have a flag that inspires pride in its citizens.

Brown said, “To those who are interested in making flags for their town, or doing anything for their town, I ask, what are you waiting for?”