Raleigh's flag, adopted in 1967, features a horizontal red band on top (taking up 60% of the flag) and a white band below. At the center is the municipal seal in color: a green oak with a white five-pointed star in the upper left.
The oak symbolizes strength and endurance. The star represents hope and guidance. Together, they capture Raleigh's identity as the capital of North Carolina (since 1792) and the center of the Research Triangle Park.
Created in 1959, the Research Triangle Park is home to more than 300 technology and research companies: IBM, Cisco, RTI International, GlaxoSmithKline. It is the brain of North Carolina.
Raleigh has boomed. The knowledge economy draws educated young people, creating a progressive city in a traditional state.
Raleigh is named after Sir Walter Raleigh, who sponsored the first English attempts to colonize North Carolina (the "Lost Colony" of Roanoke). The red-and-white flag with its solid oak projects stability and growth – a capital that looks to the future.