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The Ecology Flag is a cultural symbol used primarily in the 1970s by American
Ecology flags showed up many places in the 1970s. One of the earliest recorded flyings of an actual Ecology Flag was in 1970. As a 16-year-old high school student, Betsy Boze, an environmental advocate and social activist, made a green and white "theta" ecology flag to commemorate the first Earth Day (then called Ecology Day). Initially denied permission to fly the flag at C. E. Byrd High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, Vogel sought and received authorization from the Louisiana Legislature and Louisiana Governor
The Ecology Flag is a cultural symbol used primarily in the 1970s by American environmentalists
An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...
. It is a symbol of people's commitment to clean up the environment.
Description
Ron Cobb
Ronald Ray Cobb (September 21, 1937 – September 21, 2020) was an American-Australian artist. In addition to his work as an editorial cartoonist, he contributed to major films including '' Dark Star'' (1974), '' Star Wars'' (1977), '' Alien'' (19 ...
created an ecology
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...
symbol which he published on October 25, 1969 in the ''Los Angeles Free Press
The ''Los Angeles Free Press'', also called the "''Freep''", is often cited as the first, and certainly was the largest, of the underground newspapers of the 1960s. The ''Freep'' was founded in 1964 by Art Kunkin, who served as its publisher un ...
'' and then placed in the public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
. The symbol was formed by taking the letters "e" and "o", taken from the words "environment" and "organism", and putting them in superposition, thereby forming a shape reminiscent of the Greek letter
The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BCE. It is derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was the earliest known alphabetic script to have distinct letters for vowels as ...
Θ (Theta).
''Look'' magazine incorporated the symbol into an image of a flag in their April 21, 1970 issue. It widely popularized the theta symbol, which it associated with the Greek word ''thanatos'' (death) in light of human threats to the environment and atmosphere of the earth. The flag was patterned after the flag of the United States, and had thirteen stripes alternating green and white with the green standing for unspoiled land and the white for clean air. Its canton was green with the ecology symbol where the stars would be in the United States flag
The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...
.
History
Ecology flags showed up many places in the 1970s. One of the earliest recorded flyings of an actual Ecology Flag was in 1970. As a 16-year-old high school student, Betsy Boze, an environmental advocate and social activist, made a green and white "theta" ecology flag to commemorate the first Earth Day (then called Ecology Day). Initially denied permission to fly the flag at C. E. Byrd High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, Vogel sought and received authorization from the Louisiana Legislature and Louisiana Governor John McKeithen
John Julian McKeithen (May 28, 1918 – June 4, 1999) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 49th governor of Louisiana from 1964 to 1972.
Early life
McKeithen was born in Grayson, Louisiana on May 28, 1918. His father was a ...
in time to display the flag for Earth Day.
Students at Harper College
William Rainey Harper College is a public community college in Palatine, Illinois. It was established by referendum in 1965 and opened in September 1967. It is named for William Rainey Harper, a pioneer in the junior college movement in the U ...
in Palatine, Illinois made an agreement with the administration to fly a homemade Ecology flag under the U.S. flag for the 1971–1972 school year. The flag flew over the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory in Port Hueneme, California
Port Hueneme ( ; Chumash: ''Wene Me'') is a small beach city in Ventura County, California, surrounded by the city of Oxnard and the Santa Barbara Channel. Both the Port of Hueneme and Naval Base Ventura County lie within the city limits.
P ...
in 1973 and decorated a building as a mural in Mississippi Palisades State Park
Mississippi Palisades State Park is a National Natural Landmark located in Carroll County, Illinois, Carroll County, Illinois, just north of the town of Savanna, Illinois, Savanna. It is a partially conserved section of the Mississippi Palisades. ...
in Illinois in 1976.
The flag continues to be used as a symbol of concern for the planet, showing up at the People's Climate March in 2017.
See also
* Esperanto jubilee symbol * Earth FlagReferences
External links
* Environment of the United States Activism flagsEcology
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...
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