Cleveland’s oldest and today's officially used Cleveland flag was adopted by Cleveland Ohio's City Council on October 21, 1895, to mark the city’s centennial. Designed by 18-year-old Susan Hepburn Beach, a graduate of the Cleveland School of Art, the flag symbolizes the city’s industrial and maritime roots. Beach’s design won a contest launched by the Plain Dealer and judged by a panel led by Archibald Willard, painter of The Spirit of ’76. She was selected over more than two dozen male finalists.

​

The flag features vertical red, white, and blue stripes with a central shield. One corner of the shield includes an anvil, hammer, and wheel for manufacturing; the other holds an anchor, oar, and windlass for trade. A laurel wreath and the founding year, 1796, complete the design. The motto Progress and Prosperity was added later.

​

Susan descended from early Cleveland pioneers, including Seth Pease and Morris Hepburn. After winning the contest, she met Robert Beach, a young Plain Dealer reporter delivering her prize. They married in 1896, raised four children, and lived on East 89th Street for 60 years. Robert later became city editor and founded the Ohio News Bureau.

​

In 1941, Mayor Edward Blythin honored Susan with a brass city key featuring her flag design. The key was used in Cleveland’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 1946, when the flag flew citywide alongside the U.S. flag.

​​

The "Real" Cleveland Flag is still proudly still in use today in thousands of applications specifically on Cleveland police uniforms, city vehicles, public buildings and schools - representing Cleveland’s history, resilience, and civic pride.