Bland County now has its own
official flag. Local residents caught their first view of the new flag flying
in front of the Bland County Courthouse.
“The county never had an official flag before,” noted County Administrator
Jonathan D. Sweet. “I wanted the county to have one before I left. It creates a
sense of pride in the community.”
Sweet is leaving his local post to become Grayson County’s
County administrator on June 1.
The 6-foot by 10-foot flag is a lighter shade of blue than the state flag. Its
county seal also is bigger than the Virginia
seal.
“The design is similar to the state flag,” Sweet pointed out, “but it’s
different enough to distinguish itself from the Virginia flag.”
According to him, the county seal already existed. Sweet used it in several
different designs of a flag and conducted a survey among county departments.
“They overwhelmingly chose the one we ended up selecting,” Sweet said.
With only one flagpole on which the U.S. flag flew, two others were
added. One was for the Virginia
flag and the other for the county flag.
“We went with white fiberglass,” Sweet added. “The flagpoles are illuminated at
night and they really show up.”
During the week of April 6, the new flagpoles were installed. The flags debuted
April 14 with Sweet having the privilege to raise the county’s first flag.
“I’ve heard lots of compliments,” the county administrator stated. “People said
we should have done it a long time ago.”
The county’s maintenance crew will be responsible for lowering and raising the
flags. Weather permitting, the flags will fly at night.
Sweet also noted the county flag is available to organizations and businesses
for $246 each. He said an indoor version of the flag will be displayed inside
the county office building.
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 1-800-655-1406 or
