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Perkins, Oklahoma (U.S.)

Payne County

image by Eugene Ipavec, 25 September 2009
Source: www.thejournalok.com/atf.php?sid=10365&current_edition=2008-01-10,
photo provided by Mayor Mel Miller

Description of the flag

See also:

Description of the flag

Perkins is a city in Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,250 at the 2006 census. The City of Perkins is conveniently located just south of Stillwater on State Highway 33 and Highway 177 and is only 45 minutes from Oklahoma City. The City of Perkins is dedicated to continued growth and prosperity. As with many towns in the area, Perkins began with the Oklahoma Land Run of April 22, 1889. Joseph Wert staked a claim for 160 acres and offered up 40 acres of his land to be established as a township. The township went through three separate names in about a year's time: Cimarron, Italy, and finally Perkins.

The flag:
"Citizens select city flag"
"Perkins now has a city flag. Results of the voting for a flag were announced today. The winning design received 166 votes of the 362 votes cast. Main features of the flag are four major elements: the water tower, a Pistol Pete caricature, the original wooden bridge crossing the Cimarron River, and an Indian shield. These elements are inside of a double circle containing the words, "Perkins, Oklahoma" and "Queen City of the Cimarron. The second highest number of votes, 143, was garnered by a design very similar to the winner. The most visible difference was the lines dividing the double circle in the center of the design into four quadrants. The other two designs received nearly identical number of votes, 26 and 27. The winning design, created by Carina Malone, will be used in finalizing the City's flag. A commercial flag maker will use Malone's original drawing to refine the elements included in her drawing to produced a finished flag. It is expected the first flags will be ready for dedication by Nov. 16 as a part of the ceremonies dedicating the Centennial Territorial Plaza. After that date, flags will be available for purchase by citizens and organizations."
from The Journal
Valentin Poposki, 6 December 2008

It was my desire as Mayor of Perkins to have a flag to represent our city. With that goal in mind, a flag design contest was approved by the City Commission in early 2007 with a date for contest entries to be submitted by June 14, Flag Day in the US. I visited with teachers in three of the schools serving Perkins to encourage student participation in the design contest. The information in the "Perkins Journal" article is correct. The flag committee reserved the right to combine ideas from different entries to finalize the actual design of the flag. After the voting, the committee did use concepts from the four entries submitted by Carina Malone. In addition, the committee added a black border to represent the Perkins-Tryon High School colors (black and white). Before these changes were finalized, Carina consented to the committee's changes. The City Commission officially adopted the flag in the summer of 2007 and the flag was dedicated in October of that year as a part of a fall community celebration.

Regarding the various elements. The slogan, "Queen City of The Cimarron", is of long standing and dates back to the 1880's. The flower in the middle of the design is an Indian Blanket, Oklahoma's state flower. The water tower is still in use and stands in the downtown area. The caricature is of "Pistol Pete" who's real name is Frank Eaton. There are many stories about Pete, who as a Deputy Federal Marshall avenged his father's death by tracking down and eventually killing five of the men who shot the senior Eaton in cold blood in Pete's youth. He was considered one of the west's fastest draws who also shot with great accuracy. He moved to the Perkins area in 1889 when he was 29. Additionally, Pistol Pete became the Mascot for the Oklahoma State University - then OAMC. You can find lots of information regarding him by doing a Google for Frank Eaton. The river represents the Cimarron River which is near the south border of the city. The wooden bridge is a representation of the first bridge that crossed the Cimarron River. The bridge has since been replaced with a concrete structure. The Indian shield represents the native American population that lives in or near Perkins. The Iowa's of Oklahoma are the primary tribal group in this area and have headquarters about 4 miles south of Perkins. Perkins has agreements with the Iowa's regarding law enforcement and fire department assists. Other tribes are represented by citizens of Perkins.

City web site www.cityofperkins.net
Mel Miller, Mayor, City of Perkin
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 22 September 2009