Photo by Heather Ziegler Wheeling 250 Committee Chairman Jay Frey unfurls a proposed City of Wheeling flag while committee member Erin Rothenbuehler explains the design concept.

WHEELING — The old flag just never caught on.

That’s what Jay Frey, Wheeling 250 Committee chairman, said about the former banner that the city of Wheeling adopted more than 50 years ago.

Now, the city has a new flag, after city council approved it earlier this month.

But why did the old flag never catch on? No one seems to know.

Frey said he believes the symbolism of the previous city flag was fairly obvious.

But committee members have not been able to find any “existing written narrative” explaining them.

Frey said he believes the three symbols on the former flag represent a depiction of Fort Henry, a “futuristic image of Wheeling to come,” and an arrow in the middle representing “forward movement.”

According to records obtained at the Ohio County Library, the old flag design came about as a result of a contest held by the Wheeling Elks Lodge 28 in 1964. However, it was not adopted by city council as the city’s official flag until 1988. It reportedly caught some interest nearly a quarter-century after it was first designed as a result of Stella Koerner, a former city councilwoman and mayor.

According to documents, the first-place winner of the original flag design was submitted by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Emblem, of Wheeling (the name of Robert Emblem’s wife was not printed). The flag was unveiled for the first time June 14, 1964, during Flag Day services at Oglebay Park. While there are pictures showing several of the original city flags on display during a Centre Market celebration in 1972, the flag largely seemed to go unnoticed, said Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott.

Elliott said based on comments he has received, many people didn’t even know the city had an official flag. He said he believes the new flag design will stand the test of time and has an opportunity to be embraced in light of the Wheeling 250 events. They city has said it plans to market the flag and use its design on t-shirts for marketing purposes, too.

The new flag design was unveiled by Frey and Erin Rothenbuehler during an August council meeting. The Wheeling 250 Committee members took the lead on the project after being charged with developing a celebration to mark the city’s 250th birthday next year.

The new flag design has two navy blue stripes bordering a white stripe with five gold stars. Rothenbuehler said the blue stripes represent the Ohio River and other waterways, while the stars represent Wheeling’s early inhabitants; the frontiersmen; transportation; statehood; and industrial significance. The eight-sided navigation signifies Wheeling moving forward.