PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE

Thursday, October 16, 1997

City Council refuses to adopt city's historic first seal as city flag

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas (AP) -- Officials in this Hill Country city thought it would be a good idea to honor the town's history with a flag.

But just what exactly should go on the flag has become an issue between members of the town's German and Hispanic communities.

Because of the dilemma, the city was unable to adopt its historic first seal as the official city flag on Monday.

"It really was a Catch-22," Mayor Jan Kennady said, adding that she received 34 phone calls on the issue before Monday's meeting.

The New Braunfels Historic Landmark Commission came up with the idea to adopt a city flag after visitors from Europe asked if the city had a flag to sell as a souvenir, a common practice in Germany.

The commission unanimously adopted a design based on the seal used on the emigrant contracts issued to the first German settlers in 1844 and 1845.

The seal included a lone star, which stands for the Republic of Texas, and a bundle of arrows, symbolizing the presence of Indians on the settled land and the phrase "Verein zum Schutz Deutscher Einwandrer in Texas." The phrase translates to "Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas."

Hispanics lived in the area before the Germans arrived, said resident Cristina Aguilar Friar. She said Hispanics helped town founder Prince Carl of Solms gather the immigrants at the Texas coast and bring them to New Braunfels.

Despite the opposition to the design from Aguilar Friar and others, the commission presented its original design to the City Council.

"The Historic Landmark Commission was appalled and amazed over the furor over the proposed city flag," chairman Carol Belton told the City Council.

The meeting turned heated when Skip Stratemann, who traces his family's roots in New Braunfels to 1845, said the opponents of the design were being divisive.

Hispanics should be made to feel a part of the community and not be excluded, Yolanda Longoria countered.

"We are made to feel like dogs and I'm tired of it," she said.

The issue died when no council member made a motion on the issue.