The House Government Operations Committee voted 8-2 for HB219, which would form an 11-member panel to review flag proposals and ultimately issue recommendations to lawmakers later this year.
“There would be a very short, quick timeline,” said bill sponsor Rep. Steve Handy, R-Layton. “This commission would have to really get after it.”
Utah’s current flag is more than 100-years old and largely consists of a variation of the state seal on a blue background. The design includes a number of images symbolic to Utah’s history — including sego lilies, a beehive and dates corresponding to the arrival of Mormon settlers in the Salt Lake Valley and Utah earning statehood — but violates most principles of good flag design espoused by vexillologists, or flag experts.