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image by Masao Okazaki, 24 June 2019
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An image of the flag of the town of Nanty Glo, Pennsylvania was obtained
from
https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tribdem.com and article
https://www.tribdem.com/news/nanty-glo-raises-town-flag-during-centennial-kickoff/article_e159e02a-8004-11e8-9491-77ddb540adf6.html
Nanty Glo raises town flag during centennial kickoff
Jul 5, 2018
At the end of the school year, eighth-grade student Michael Pavelek won a
contest that was the culmination of his history class at Blacklick Valley Junior
Senior High School. The assignment was to create a flag for the town of Nanty
Glo in preparation for its centennial events, which kicked off Wednesday with a
veteran’s recognition ceremony and parade.
Pavelek’s first draft was too
complicated, so he decided to go with a simpler version with three stripes and
three symbols. His final design came to life after the town’s centennial parade
Wednesday morning as Nanty Glo officials hoisted Pavelek’s flag right below the
American flag at the corner of Roberts and Lloyd streets in the center of the
borough.
According to Pavelek’s research, the blue stripe at the top of
the flag represents Nanty Glo’s determination and good fortune. In a speech
Pavelek gave Wednesday morning before the presentation of his flag, he said this
stripe is for “the people of Nanty Glo, who kept on pushing through the
hardships. The determination was everywhere – at home, in the mines or on the
battlefield – no matter what,” he said.
The flag’s orange stripe is to represent the courage and sacrifice of the
people of Nanty Glo, he said, for those who put themselves in harm’s way for the
sake of their families and the their town. This stripe in particular has family
ties for Pavelek, with a great-grandfather who died while working in a coal mine
years before he was born and two parents – Mike and Lisa (Hagens) – who both
served overseas in the military.
The flag’s green stripe represents
wealth and success, but also acknowledges Nanty Glo’s founding by the Welsh in
1918, Michael Pavelek said. Like the Welsh flag, the green stripe is at the
bottom to symbolize a strong foundation, he said.
The flag’s symbols
include a coal cart in the center to show the town’s rich coal mining history
and a keystone symbol on the cart for the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The coal
cart is surrounded by a gold band to symbolize Nanty Glo’s rich history of coal,
“which is why it’s surrounding the important symbols at the heart of our flag,”
Michael Pavelek said.
Karen Tummino, chair of the Nanty Glo Centennial
committee, said the result of Michael Pavelek’s design was the town’s first
flag.
Paul Bassinson, 10 May 2019