Donal McLaughlin (July 26, 1907 – September 27, 2009) was an American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

who played a major role in the design of the flag of the United Nations.

Early life and education

McLaughlin was born on July 26, 1907, in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and was raised in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. His choice to pursue architecture mirrored that of his grandfather,

James W. McLaughlin James W. McLaughlin (November 1, 1834 – March 4, 1923) was a Cincinnati, Ohio architect. He studied to be an architect working under famed James Keys Wilson. He fought in the American Civil War serving in the Union Army. During the ...

, who designed the

Cincinnati Art Museum The Cincinnati Art Museum is an art museum in the Eden Park neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1881, it was the first purpose-built art museum west of the Alleghenies, and is one of the oldest in the United States. Its collection of ov ...

. McLaughlin attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, where his thesis addressed the issues of circular design. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Architecture The Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) is a bachelor's degree designed to satisfy the academic requirement of practising architecture around the world. Australia Architectural education in Australia varies depending on the university offering th ...

degree in 1933 from the

Yale School of Architecture The Yale School of Architecture (YSOA) is one of the constituent professional schools of Yale University, and is generally considered to be one of the best architecture schools in the United States. The School awards the degrees of Master of Arc ...

.Bierut, Michael
"The lapel pin that changed the world"
, ''Yale Arts & Culture'', May / June 2007. Accessed January 4, 2008. He earned an architecture diploma from the

Beaux-Arts Institute of Design The Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (BAID, later the National Institute for Architectural Education) was an art and architectural school at 304 East 44th Street in Turtle Bay, Manhattan, in New York City. After his graduation, despite the difficult economic climate of the Great Depression, he was able to get a position with the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. That led to positions in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

with the industrial design firm of Raymond Loewy and

Walter Dorwin Teague Walter Dorwin Teague (December 18, 1883 – December 5, 1960) was an American industrial designer, architect, illustrator, graphic designer, writer, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Dean of Industrial Design", Teague pioneered in the ...

, where he worked on the Eastman Kodak and U.S. Steel pavilions at the 1939 New York World's Fair in New York. He also designed the interior of the Tiffany & Co. flagship store at Fifth Avenue and 57th Street in

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, McLaughlin worked for the Office of Strategic Services, where he worked for its leader, "Wild Bill" Donovan as chief of graphics. During the war, his group used visual design to help present information that could be easily understood—including army orientation films, a documentary on the capabilities of amphibious

DUKW The DUKW (colloquially known as Duck) is a six-wheel-drive amphibious modification of the -ton CCKW trucks used by the U.S. military during World War II and the Korean War. Designed by a partnership under military auspices of Sparkman & Step ...

vehicles, and cigarette packages printed with instructions for derailing German trains. His team created the design for the courtroom used in the

Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded m ...

as well as the visual displays that were used by the prosecution that helped obtain convictions of Nazi war criminals.

United Nations insignia

The organizers of the 1945

United Nations Conference on International Organization The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), commonly known as the San Francisco Conference, was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, Cali ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, wanted an insignia that could be made into a pin to identify delegates that could also be used as a logo for the international event.

U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

Edward Stettinius Jr., was chairman of the U.S. delegation and realized that a temporary design might become the permanent symbol of the United Nations. He formed a committee, headed by

Oliver Lundquist Oliver Lincoln Lundquist (September 20, 1916 – December 28, 2008) was an American architect and industrial designer who headed the team which was responsible for the design of the United Nations logo and who himself designed the Q-Tip box. B ...

, to develop a design with a world map surrounded by leaves from a design that had been created by McLaughlin. With his fellow designers, McLaughlin came up with about nine different designs. The one that they chose had to fit on a circular pin that was 1 1/16 in. in diameter, and McLaughlin referred to his thesis by shifting the projection off center so that all of the countries would fit. The continents were surrounded by olive branches to represent peace with the name, location, and date of the conference on the outer edge.Bertram, Hulen
"Origin of the UNO Seal"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', March 10, 1946. Accessed January 4, 2009.Lyons, Catherine
"UN Logo Designer Celebrates His Centennial"
,

United Nations Association A United Nations Association (UNA) is a non-governmental organization that exist in various countries to enhance the relationship between the people of member states and the United Nations to raise public awareness of the UN and its work, to promot ...

, c. 1975. Accessed January 4, 2009. McLaughlin celebrated his 100th birthday on July 26, 2007. His father also reached the century mark, and the elder McLaughlin remarked that he had given up smoking cigarettes and drinking in his early thirties and credited his longevity to having "never exerted myself with too much work or ambition."Goodman, George Jr
"Man Reaches 100 and Credits Sloth"
''

'', December 19, 1975. Accessed January 4, 2009.

Death

McLaughlin died on September 27, 2009, at the age of 102 in his home in

Garrett Park, Maryland Garrett Park is a town in Montgomery County, Maryland. It was named after a former president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Robert W. Garrett. The population was 992 at the 2010 census. Garrett Park is home to Garrett Park Elementary Schoo ...

due to esophageal cancer. He was survived by two daughters, a son, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He married the former Laura Nevius in 1937, who died in 1998.Grimes, William
"Donal McLaughlin, Designer of United Nations Emblem, Dies at 102"
''

'', October 2, 2009. Accessed October 2, 2009.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McLaughlin, Donal 1907 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American architects Flag designers American centenarians Men centenarians Deaths from cancer in Maryland Deaths from esophageal cancer Architects from Cincinnati People from Manhattan People from Garrett Park, Maryland People from the Bronx People of the Office of Strategic Services Yale School of Architecture alumni Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (New York City) alumni