Old tower provides a new flag, seal

ST. GEORGE -- The new flag will be an icon of the past.

It features a sketch of the St. George's church bell tower at Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site outside Summerville, maybe the signature image of the place that was founded by settlers in 1697. The church is one of the last remnants of the town of Dorchester, the beginning of inland settlement of the people who became the Lowcountry.

The flag will fly from the county's new courthouse in St. George. The circular green design also will be the county seal. The flag replaces one with an asymmetrical design that featured the jagged contour of the county's boundaries. It was commissioned to boost the county's image, as part of an overall effort to draw more tourists and business.

The design was unveiled this week after Dorchester County Council members voted on a selection of finalists. The Upper Dorchester County Historical Society and the Summerville Preservation Society, working together, pushed the secrecy of the process to such lengths that individual council members didn't even know which design the others had voted for.

The winning artist, John Dumas, was dumbfounded. The project was an unusual departure for the Summerville architect, who usually designs buildings. He had been invited to the unveiling as one of the finalists, and didn't think he had won.

"I about had a heart attack. I'm very honored," he said.

The design also features the motto "Service, Justice, Prosperity," live oaks and a ring of magnolia leaves "linked together like the hands of the county for a common purpose," in the words of Heyward Hutson, of the preservation society. His remarks were a nice save. Earlier this year, he inadvertently offended some people in the upper county when he said the old flag looked like it was designed by third-graders.

The flag had been designed by teachers who were friends of Jean Behling, an upper county historian.