Kyle Miller. Submitted photo

Enumclaw has a new municipal flag — all that’s left is the paperwork.

Out of 50 designs submitted for the contest, the city council decided during their Jan. 24 meeting to adopt the design created by Kyle Miller, who moved to Enumclaw about a year ago.

“I’m thrilled that the city chose my design to represent the awesome place we get to live in. When I was making it, I was really trying to find symbols and colors that represent Enumclaw that long-time and new residents of the city would relate to,” Miller said in a recent email interview. “I can’t believe I’ll get to drive by city hall and see this flag everyday. It truly feels great to get involved with the place you live and leave your mark.”

The flag, as seen above, is loaded with symbolism and metaphors.

First, there are the colors — the green, the dominant color of the design, represents the nature that surrounds the city; the golden yellow “is a nod to the farming industry that our community was founded on” (as well as the “beautiful sunrises and sunsets”); and the white “represents the purity of open space and nature that we are privileged to live in,” Miller wrote in his explanatory statement about his design.

Then we have Mt. Rainier and the evergreen tree.

“Enumclaw is the gateway to Mt. Rainier and the golden box and golden intersection shapes bring the eye to the center of the flag, representing an entry to the mountain,” Miller wrote. “The prominent tree represents nature and how close we are to many state parks. It points up (north) to the mountain as Enumclaw is the entryway to both north entrances of Mt. Rainier National Park.”

Additionally, “the golden intersection not only helps represent a gateway to the mountain, but resembles farming and the vast fields on the Plateau,” he continued. “The two lines across the top of the flag represent strength and resilience. Visually, the lines also represent the wind Enumclaw is known for.”

It should be noted the city council may change parts of Miller’s design, so the final product may look different at the end of the day.

Now that a design has been chosen, the city needs to print the flag and officially adopt it as a municipal flag via resolution; Parks and Recreation Director Michelle Larson said the city is hoping to have the resolution ready for the city council in late February or early March.