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# Leelanau County, Michigan (U.S.)

##

Last modified: 2026-05-16 by rick wyatt
Keywords: leelanau county | michigan |
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image by Eugene Ipavec, 26 May 2009

- Flag competition
- Bicentennial Flag

- indicates flag is known.
- indicates it is reported that there is no known flag.

Municipal flags in LeeLanau County:

- Elmwood Charter Township
- Glen Arbor
- Glen Arbor Township
- Omena
- Traverse City

See also:

- Municipal and County Flags of Michigan
- Michigan
- United States of America

## Flag competition

Leelanau discovered it had a bicentennial (1976) designed flag. Of course that design couldn't be used nowadays, so they are conducting a contest for a new flag. They chose four final designs which can be seen at www.leelanaunews.com/drupal/?q=node/5517, in a story dated 16th March 2009.
Valentin Poposki, 14 April 2009

In a split vote, the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday evening finally decided on a design for an official Leelanau County flag. The board voted 5-2 to approve a design submitted by a lifelong seasonal Leland resident from Indiana who currently works as an illustrator in Boston. The flag's designer, Matthew Shoaff, is 25 and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree last year at the Savannah College of Art & Design in Georgia. His family has summered in Leland for more than a century. Shoaff is one of 14 people who submitted 26 entries in a flag design contest launched by a committee of the county board earlier this year.
The board narrowed down its preferences to four designs last month, but this month decided to select a modified version of Shoaff's original design. Acting county adminstrator Georgia Robertson contacted Shoaff and asked him to resubmit a modified range of designs based on his original design. His original design included a Latin phrase that translates as, "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look around you." The same Latin phrase appears on the State of Michigan's official flag. At the request of county officials for a resubmission of options, Shoaff substituted "Est. 1863" for the Latin phrase in some versions, included only the words "Leelanau County" in other versions, and changed type faces and colors in still other versions. The county flag will be flown on a third, currently empty flagpole in front of the Government Center where the U.S. and Michigan flags already fly.
- from: www.leelanaunews.com/drupal/node/6897. There is also a small image of the flag, which includes the central part of the flag.
Valentin Poposki, 24 May 2009

## Bicentennial Flag

image located by Valentin Poposki, 26 February 2009

[Central portion of flag]
Here is the story about Leelanau county bicentennial flag from Eric Carlson from 3rd February 2009:
"It turns out that Leelanau County already has an official flag - or, at least, an official county Bicentennial emblem that was placed on flags back in 1976. When the new Leelanau County Government Center was being completed last year, three flagpoles were erected just outside - for the American and Michigan flags, as well as a possible Leelanau County flag. But the third flagpole has remained empty. Earlier this month, the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners agreed to hold a contest in which anyone interested could come up with a design for a county flag. At the time, no county officials said they were aware that there had ever been an official county flag. But there was - kind of.
Former county clerk Dorothy Wunderlich and her husband, former county commissioner Wayne Wunderlich, had one of the flags stored away at home with a variety of other memorabilia. Wayne Wunderlich brought the flag into the county clerk's office last week for safekeeping. Clerk Michelle Crocker and her staff, meanwhile, conducted some research into the issue and discovered the flag's origin in the minutes of the Dec. 10, 1974, Leelanau County Board of Supervisors meeting.
"Mr. Noble Travis, Chairman of the Leelanau County Bicentennial Celebration Committee, appeared before the board with a progress report for the committee," according to the minutes. "Mr. Travis mentioned that the committee is sponsoring an official Leelanau County Bicentennial emblem contest for school children participation and that the National Bank & Trust, Traverse City State Bank and Empire National Bank have donated twenty-one $25 Savings Bonds for awards for contest winners."
In the March 6, 1975 edition of the Leelanau Enterprise, the design winners were announced. The top design was created by 11-year-old Rochelle Walters of Elmwood Township, a sixth grader at Norris Elementary School. The Bicentennial emblem she created featured an outline of Leelanau County and a logo containing the words "Leelanau County Bicentennial Commission 1776-1976." Within the logo were line drawings of a speedboat, a downhill skier, a swimmer, a snowmobile, and what appeared to be sand dunes with cherries superimposed on them. Rochelle Walters could not be reached for comment. She is now married and resides in Kansas City, according to Sylvester Walters of Elmwood Township, who said he believes she is his third cousin.
The county board's "Campus Completion Committee" was meeting Wednesday morning to discuss the flag project and other efforts to landscape the new government center campus as well as decorate its interior. The committee was formerly known as the "Interior Design Committee" and is chaired by District No. 4 commissioner Mary P. Tonneberger, who is also the county board chairman.
"I expect we will have one of the Bicentennial flags framed for placement one of the walls somewhere inside the Government Center," Tonneberger said. Because the emblem and the flag were created for a specific purpose - celebration of the nation's Bicentennial in 1976 - the design will not be used as the county's official flag, Tonneberger said.
This week, the committee was expected to review several proposed designs for a new county flag that have been received so far and make a recommendation to the full board of commissioners at an upcoming meeting."
- from: leelanaunews.com/drupal/?q=node/4392, including small image of the central part of the flag.
Valentin Poposki, 26 February 2009