CREEDE— Nancy Leggitt and local artist Jane Macpherson have worked over the past three years to design and create a flag for Creede. Leggitt has been wanting to create a flag for the town for many years, but needed the help of Macpherson to bring it to life. “I knew what I wanted in my head, but I needed someone to help me bring it to life,” said Leggitt. After weeks of preparation, the two were finally able to create the flag which now hangs in front of several businesses and homes in the area.
“I kept seeing people flying flags in front of their homes or businesses. You could see Colorado flags, Texas state flags and others and I thought Creede needed a flag to represent the town,” continued Leggitt. She explained that the town deserved a flag to represent the struggle the community has undergone throughout the years and the survival of the town through thick and thin. “We’ve had a rough time and worked our tails off to be here,” she finished.
The historical society approached Leggitt for ideas on the annual fundraiser, to which she suggested coming up with the flag. “I had been thinking of this project for about three years, but was unable to find an artist until now,” explained Leggitt. Macpherson was able to work with Leggitt and capture the image that was stuck in her mind. “Jane was like a mad scientist that tapped into my brain and came up with the image I was imagining.”
The design on the flag has many attributes that one does not see right away. Leggitt and Macpherson took into consideration the struggle of the community, laying out the picture on the flag in a rough design with ragged edges representing the ragged years after the silver mines closed in the early 80s. The font was specifically chosen as a sharp design to represent the sharp, high caldera cliffs that surround the town and the color red was chosen to represent the bold, artistic nature of local residents. “We needed some color to highlight the brown cliffs around Creede. I can imagine seeing Main Street lined in flags. It will be awesome to see against the high cliffs in the background,” said Leggitt.
Her imaginings came true on the morning of Creede’s 125th anniversary as a light breeze fluttered several flags hung in front of businesses in the early morning light. The town and historical society have been selling the flags for the past several weeks in preparation of the celebrations that kicked off this past Saturday.
The flags continue to be for sale at Downstream Gas and Mercantile, Blue Yak Salon and the Historical Society Library. Each flag is $55, and all proceeds will go towards helping with financial costs associated with moving the library location while work is being done on Basham Park. Leggitt also stated that the historical society will be attending the next regular meeting of the City of Creede to propose making the flag official. The meeting is scheduled for July 11, due to the Fourth of July celebrations.