Topeka’s new flag featuring star, sunflower received runaway support

Voters choosing from among three finalists to be the next city of Topeka flag overwhelmingly approved a design featuring a sunflower accompanied by a white star at Topeka’s location on the state map.

That design was chosen by more than 70 percent of the nearly 4,000 people who participating in the selection, representatives of Forge, the city’s young professionals association, said Thursday.

Forge planning committee members Leo Espinoza and Brittany Stiffler Crabtree announced the winner near the end of the annual State of the Community luncheon, which organizers said 500 people attended at the Ramada Hotel and Convention Center.

The number of votes cast was “incredible for a community of our size,” Crabtree said.

“It is clear which flag the community wanted,” Forge executive director Lindsay Lebahn said in a news release issued Thursday by the Greater Topeka Partnership. “With all the exciting developments and changes within the Topeka community, there really isn’t a better time for this.”