Ask a city-dweller what best represents Rochester, and you may hear garbage plates or
chicken French, Kodak or Xerox, even good old Genesee Beer.
But the easiest answer is perhaps less obvious: the Flower City mark. That five-petaled sigil has become such an ingrained local icon that it can easily be overlooked, placed everywhere from the shoulder patches of Rochester police officers to murals, trash cans, city vehicles and inked into every other Rochesterian’s skin.
The mark is a symbol meant to represent both a waterwheel and a flower, in homage to Rochester’s dual homonyms: its past life as the Flour City, and its current as the Flower City. The symbol was designed by the city’s first graphic designer, Lee Green, in 1976 under an initiative modeled after the Nixon-era Federal Design Improvement Program.
“The idea was to create something that was cohesive, something that would have
meaning, something that would be telegraphic and function well as an identifier and a mark,” Green said. “And that was really the goal, if you will, in creating the mark. I
wasn’t thinking about what was going to happen 50 years later.”
That program also birthed official logos across the country, meant to encapsulate an
organization or municipality’s identity and branding. Perhaps the most well-known logo born from that program was NASA’s “worm” design. But cities across the country also
got in on the action.
Most, if not all, cities that adopted marks in that era no longer prominently use them. But
in Rochester, the mark has become an increasingly enduring identifier.
For Nate Miller, assistant digital media specialist at the city, its prevalence makes the
mark something unique. Miller has worked archiving the use of the mark and its history
and said he could not find another example of a city still prominently using a mark like
Rochester’s.
“It’s such a simple, timeless, beautiful design,” Miller said. “It’s so adaptable. It’s so
scalable. People started using it almost immediately. And fast forward to now, I think we
all see ourselves in it, and it is unique.”
Miller has also helped produce a documentary on the mark, which will be first aired at a
special screening at The Little Theatre in late May. The film will then be publicly
screened at Flower Fest, a celebration of the golden anniversary of the mark.
The one-day event is planned for June 6 on the Pont de Rennes bridge in the High Falls
District. The festival will boast a market for artists selling city mark-adorned wares, a
continuous airing of a documentary on the origin and history of the mark and a city
mark-themed drone show. The festival will be organized by Bella Events Group through a $100,000 contract with the city, approved in March by the Rochester City Council.
The Flower Fest plans to feature tattoo artists on the bridge among its artisans.
“I want to know when we started seeing tattoos, when people really began to associate
themselves with it, and not just as a city mark,” said Barbara Pierce, communications
and special events director for the city. “If you’re out in a Florida beach somewhere, and
somebody sees that mark, it’s like, ‘Hey, Rochester!’ It’s like the Bills logo, and you’re
yelling, ‘Go Bills.’”
Green, who worked at the city for about four years before moving onto a career with
IBM, also found the tattooing of the mark somewhat of a surprise.
“Years ago, I presented at conferences, and I’d have young folks come up to me, and
the conferences had nothing to do with the city of Rochester, because I worked for IBM
after that,” Green said. “But they had tattoos of the city mark on their arms, and it was
just… It was kind of bizarre, really, but at the same time, kind of cool.”
The symbol is a registered trademark of the city of Rochester, and the city has legally
challenged people who have used it without their consent. Pierce said the city tries to
keep the cost to use the symbol low. For commercial use, rights to the symbol cost
$100 per year. For non-profits, it’s $50 per year.
“It’s pretty much nothing in the scheme of trademarks,” she said.
Pierce added that 254 rights to the city mark have been granted. The Flower Fest is another step in a series of actions taken by the city to capitalize on the mark. Last year, the city moved to change its official flag — a tri-colored yellow, white and blue banner featuring the coat of arms of Nathaniel Rochester and a crane at its center—with a blue flag with a Flower City mark.
That news came as a bit of a surprise to many Rochesterians. The official flag,
designed in 1934, was rarely displayed publicly and relatively unknown. Meanwhile, the
Flower City mark had already served as the official symbol on city vehicles and
buildings for years.
It is a somewhat unique phenomenon: in the realm of municipal governments, mayoral
administrations tend to change visuals when they come into office. But the Flower City
mark has endured.
Just why it stuck is a mystery. Green and Miller both pointed to the simplicity of the
design, its connection to the city’s history, its versatility and elegance and just the
simple fact that it looks cool.
Green is certain of one thing, however.
“I can absolutely guarantee you that when I designed that mark, its application as a
tattoo was not part of my criteria,” Green said. “I mean, it’s funny and it speaks volumes,
really, in many ways.” More info here.
Editor’s Note: WXXI, the parent company of CITY and The Little Theatre, provided prodcution support for the aforementioned documentary.
Gino Fanelli is an investigative reporter for WXXI News. You can reach him at gfanelli@wxxi.org.
