All of the final designs were inspired by submissions from Utah residents, who learned about the flag campaign through extensive media stories and media advertisements. Educators and volunteers provided flag design workshops to youth leaders and classrooms. School districts, Tribal leaders, public libraries and community groups received mail and email briefings. The Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement’s social media channels, drew audiences to the Flag.Utah.gov website, where resources were available in five languages. More than 100 volunteers drew upon their professional expertise to help implement and publicize this process. Together, these efforts inspired more than 7,000 submissions. A display of the submissions served as “a statewide art appreciation class,” said Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox, who led the Utah State Flag Task.

The Design Review Subcomittee — a team of volunteer designers and artists — reviewed submissions received from Utahns across the state. The subcommittee selected 70 top inspirational designs, featuring popular themes or symbols, such as beehives, mountains, and colors representing Utah’s red-rock canyons.

Next, a group of professional Utah designers were tapped to create 20 semi-final flags from those inspirational designs. Those 20 flags were displayed in pop-up exhibitions at the Utah State Capitol, Cache County’s Historic Courthouse in Logan, and on the Southern Utah University campus in Cedar City. Through surveys, some 44,000 Utahns voiced their opinions on the designs.