Nearly every major city in Texas has something in common: each of them wants a logo, a symbol to sell the city and be a point of civic pride. Most logos are duds, and then there’s Waco, a city that used to have one of the worst reputations but the best logo.
Locals call it the ‘Flying W,’ and it’s become so popular that the City of Waco is having to turn down requests to use it out of fear of diluting the city’s brand.
“Sometimes you don’t realize you’ve got a good thing until everybody tells you that you do,” says Robert Darden, a professor of journalism and communications at Baylor University, who is a bit of a Waco historian. “I didn’t realize how popular it was until I started seeing it on tattoos on people’s necks.”
What you’ll hear in this segment:
– How the logo’s design reflects Waco’s cultural identity
– How the city uses the logo
– Who really owns the logo – the city or Waco residents?
Written by Molly Smith.
