^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Miami Beach, Florida (U.S.)

Miami-Dade County

image by Eugene Ipavec and Al Kirsch, 19 August 2010

Flag competition
Yellow over green version
City seal
Former flag
Police Department

See also:

Flag Competition

The mayor of Miami Beach has announced a competition for a new flag (click here to view the old flag) which must incorporate the city seal. All design entries must be on 8.5-inch-by-11-inch paper. The winner will be chosen by a panel of judges. Flyers will be available starting Monday at City Hall; the deadline for submissions is March 7, winner to be announced March 19. One must be a resident of Miami beach to compete.
Al Kirsch, 26 January 2003

Yellow over green version

I came across this website which shows a flagpole with four flags, seen from behind, from top to bottom: USA, Miami Beach, an unidentified flag (subsequently shown to be a Tree City flag) and the Gay Pride flag. Notice the inverted colors [in the Miami Beach flag] in this photograph, as opposed to the color scheme reported above, which is green over yellow. In fact the image in the photograph shows the inverted colors (yellow over blue) of the former flag of Miami Beach.
Esteban Rivera, 2 January 2010

The flag of Miami Beach has been superseded by the Y/G flag seen in the photo, which looks like it is outside the Miami Beach City Hall on 17th Street (hard to tell just from the upper corner of the building, but the architecture and location of the flagpole seems right.)

Note the seal on the old flag is transparent, whereas on the new flag it's sort of an opaque tan. The new flag also flies above the building housing the Van Dyke Cafe.
Al Kirsch, 2 January 2010

Here is a 2009 photo of the [new] flag: www.flickr.com/photos/96021974@N00/3207447399/
Aleksandar Nemet, 8 January 2010

But here is a 2009 photo of the mayor's swearing-in ceremony which still uses the green over yellow flag: web.miamibeachfl.gov/assets/0/1308/b8a5e839-fc57-4bf7-a568-84d97dd86fde.jpg
Aleksandar Nemet, 9 January 2010

City Seal

image located by Al Kirsch

Former flag of Miami Beach

image by Eugene Ipavec, 19 August 2010
based on photo located by Al Kirsch, 3 January 2010

I guess the yellow and blue represents sand and sky.
Al Kirsch, 11 February 2002

Liliam Hatfield, from the City Clerk's Office sent me information about the flag designer: "The flag was designed by Rose Weiss, "the mother of Miami Beach" and officially presented to Mayor J. N. Lummus March 26, 1915 upon the incorporation of the Town of Miami Beach." It seems that also the new flag can be considered to be her design too, because the flag is not changed, except for the colors. Instead blue over yellow, now it is green over yellow (or orange - as it look like on the photo). All other details are the same. I received two photos - old and new flag.
Valentin Poposki, 13 May 2009

image by Eugene Ipavec, 19 August 2010
based on a photo located by Valentin Poposki, 13 May 2009

This image was provided by the City - clearly green over yellow. Is it the same as the blue over yellow flag shown above?

Here's my take on the confusion, especially on the chronology. The contest for a new flag was back in 2003. This photo shows the new flag as of 2008. Valentin's post is 2009, but he got his information from someone at City Hall. My guess is that the display inside the hall had not been changed, and that whoever sent him the photo was probably totally unaware of any contest and indeed, like many people in American cities, may not even have known Miami Beach had a flag until Valentin asked!

I notice correspondence (above) from me contrasting a blue over yellow "old" flag with Valentin's green over yellow "new" flag. I then recorded my observation that the Van Dyke was flying a yellow over green flag. I hypothesize that the blue over yellow version was the 1915 design, the green over yellow version a revision adopted I-know-not-when, and the yellow over green is the 2003 contest winner, though it may have started flying later (I observed the green over yellow as late as 2007, according to my posts.)
Al Kirsch, 3 January 2010

I stopped by City Hall but it was after dark. A wind was blowing at higher altitude and the Miami Beach flag was flying. The flag was not illuminated, but as near as I can tell it is yellow over green and not over aqua or teal or any similar shade. This will have to be confirmed later, but I have attached a temporary GIF made with my limited skills. The seal is in black-and-white whereas the one I snatched from Wikipedia is colored. By eye I estimated the size of the seal at half the hoist height. It is apparent that there have been three flags: a blue over yellow from early 20th century, a green over yellow until recently, and the yellow over green since then. We need dates to complete the story.
Al Kirsch, 9 January 2010

Police Department

image located by Paul Bassinson, 5 January 2022

Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10151476496953813&set=a.10151476496548813
Paul Bassinson, 5 January 2022