Flags fell – and flew – as San Francisco quaked
Five score and ten years ago, San Francisco was devastated by an earthquake that sparked fires, felled buildings and killed thousands of people. But flags kept hopes alive, including the city flag.
Some people think that the Golden Gate city’s municipal flag was created after the famous quake because the banner contains the image of a phoenix rising from a fire. Surely, people reasoned, that was emblematic of their town coming back to life after the 1906 destruction ruined 500 blocks and killed 3,000 residents.
But the municipal flag – with its Spanish motto, “Oro en Paz, Fierro en Guerra,” which means “gold in peace, iron in war” – was adopted in 1900. And unlike many flags that are the creations of committees, the City by the Bay’s banner was the work of one man.
John H. Gamble designed the San Francisco city flag and entered it in a contest that brought more than a dozen other entries. City officials chose his as the best.
In a commentary on Gamble’s work in its April 15, 1900 issue, the San Francisco Chronicle credited the flag for “its simplicity of detail and boldness of color, the two combining to make an emblem that can readily be distinguished at a considerable distance.”
On a white background, the phoenix ascends from yellow flames and black ashes. Gold letters spell out the motto on a black ribbon.
Gamble explained that he chose the phoenix to “emblemize the city in times past rising into the greater strength and beauty from its own ashes….It seems to me the most fitting device to go with the motto of the city.” He added that he selected black to represent iron and yellow to symbolize gold, thus repeating the motto in hues.
Almost precisely six years later – on April 18, 1906 – San Francisco was rocked by one of the most wicked quakes in history. Hundreds died and more were injured in the event.
As with many moments of crisis, flags were a focus of attention:
*A Riverside, California, newspaper reported that a “school flag has been hanging at half-mast since the disaster.”
*In San Diego, a reporter wrote about a man who turned his car into an ambulance by mounting a Red Cross flag on it.
*The daily paper in San Jose disclosed that the City Hall flagpole in San Francisco “was broken clear in two” by the quake, and “the upper portion in falling turned completely over and pierced the roof,” where it remained “firmly embedded.”
On May 5, the Chronicle said that, at a high school, “the American flag was hoisted…as a signal that the fire was practically under control.” The emblem raised spirits throughout the devastated city in the same way that another American flag, lifted by firemen, buoyed New Yorkers 95 years later.