BOSTON — Whately has never had a symbol hanging in the State House. But that ended last Wednesday.
Town representatives delivered the Whately town flag to the Great Hall, where it joined hundreds of other flags from towns and cities across Massachusetts.
The rectangular green banner was hung during a small public ceremony. Ceremony attendees included state Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Sunderland.
The flag was designed a few years ago, birthed from a discussion about revamping the town seal. The town commissioned resident Jack Cooper and his nephew Gregg Lambert, owner of Promark Graphics in Easthampton, to jazz up some lettering, shading and coloring on the seal, which was placed on a flag. The seal, hand-drawn in black and white, bears the town’s name. It also notes its April 26, 1771, incorporation date and pays homage to the old town hall, the Whately Congregational Church and the Whately Stockade constructed to protect early residents from potential Native American attacks.
“I’m happy to see us represented in the Great Hall of Flags,” said Jonathan Edwards, in his 16th year on the Whately Selectboard. “We just want to be recognized for the great place that we are.
“I love the flag. It’s a great flag,” he added. “It shows our history, it shows what we are about. I just think the flag demonstrates what Whately was and what it is today, in a different kind of way. … Do we have a stockade anymore? Of course not, but it’s part of who we were.”