A minor adjustment to Emporia’s new city logo did very little to change opinions on the overall design.
KVOE’s recent news poll concluded late Friday afternoon and asked residents the question: Do you approve of the new design? Nearly 500 individuals responded to the poll with an overwhelming majority, 423 to be exact, answering “no.” 31 respondents answered “yes” while 12 responded “unsure.”
The design features a stylized E with a blue star above it representing Emporia’s standing as the founding city of Veterans Day. The bottom of the E represents the Flint Hills and Emporia’s longstanding moniker of “Front Porch of the Flint Hills.”
Two stripes in the middle of the E represent the Cottonwood and Neosho Rivers while the top half of the E is designed to represent the future. The new design was created by Lot and Ilk as a replacement to the former logo which had been in place for more than 15 years.
The city did make a slight alteration to the logo after it was unveiled Monday. The original logo had a gold star near the top of the stylized E to represent veterans and Emporia’s status as the founding city of Veterans Day.
After social media concerns from local veterans about the meaning of gold stars in the military — notably the Gold Star Mothers group for moms of soldiers killed in action — the city changed the star to the blue color.
Speaking of social media comments, those did not stray far from the poll itself with most signifying a dislike for the logo and the overall process that led to its creation. Many individuals likened the logo to the Colorado flag, Pac-Man or even the logo for Microsoft Internet Explorer.
While some seemed displeased with the design itself, others seemed to focus on the design process. Several comments demonstrated frustration from local residents who felt there was very little to no community input on the design.
One commenter stated “why didn’t the people OF Emporia get to choose the new logo…. A poll should’ve/could’ve been done. . .”
You can find the new city logo online with this story at KVOE.com and the City of Emporia’s social media.
