Thursday afternoon at Milwaukee City Hall, the Milwaukee Common Council’s Steering and Rules Committee voted 6-2 to refer the matter of officially adopting the so-called “People’s Flag of Milwaukee” to the Milwaukee Arts Board. The Board will have until December 31 to decide if a new flag is needed, if the “People’s Flag” should be adopted, or if an entirely new process should be established to create a different one.

“This is not a ‘no,’ it’s a pause,” said Council President Ashanti Hamilton to the “People’s Flag” supporters in attendance.

The meeting was originally meant to vote on a resolution asking that Robert Lenz’s “Sunrise Over the Lake”—the winning design from a 2016 contest organized by Greater Together and the People’s Flag of Milwaukee Design Initiative—be adopted as the official flag of Milwaukee. The matter would have then been sent to the full Common Council for a final vote. But an 11th hour substitute resolution from Ald. Robert Bauman suggested involving the Milwaukee Arts Board and making the process a city-sponsored one. (An amendment from Ald. Mark Borkowski added the year-end deadline.) According to Bauman’s substitute resolution:

Whereas, Any process to design and adopt a new flag must include input from the entire community through an open, transparent, and inclusive process that includes public hearings open to all segments of the community; now, therefore, be it Resolved, By the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee, that the Arts Board shall develop a process to determine whether a new flag is necessary; and, be it Further Resolved, That if the Arts Board determines a new flag is necessary, the Arts Board is directed to establish and implement a process for the consideration, review, and possible recommendation of one or more designs for a new official City flag; and be it Further Resolved, That if the Arts Board determines a new flag is necessary, it shall develop estimates of the cost to fully implement the adoption of a new flag.

Bauman was highly critical of the “People’s Flag” initiative, saying it had not been an “inclusive process,” and that Milwaukeeans without access to social media and computers had been left out. He said that people in his district—many of them African-Americans—were offended at the “People’s Flag” process. “It should be unanimous, or we should be punting,” he said.

The flag’s resemblance to the flag of Reno, Nevada was also brought up, leading to some “But they copied us!” replies from the main driver behind the “People’s Flag” initiative, graphic designer Steve Kodis. Ald. Nik Kovac invoked a Milwaukee Record piece on the flags’ similarities, noting both campaigns’ strict adherence to the restrictive “principles of good flag design.”

A testy exchange ensued when Ald. Russell Stamper questioned how and why the color white in the “People’s Flag” was meant to represent “unity.” Kodis and Lenz whitesplained some flag theory. “That’s your opinion,” Stamper said.

Kodis, Lenz, Greater Together’s Ken Hanson, and AIGA president Drew Lettner kicked off the meeting with a presentation stressing the power of flags, the idea of changing Milwaukee’s narrative and brand, and the fact that the “Sunrise Over the Lake” design is already everywhere.

The original resolution was sponsored by Aldermen Khalif Rainey and Cavalier Johnson. Former sponsor Ald. Robert Donovan asked for his name to be removed earlier this week, though he did reveal that he had entered his own design in the initial “People’s Flag” contest.

Back in 2016, “Sunrise Over the Lake” was picked from more than 1,000 initial entries, which were narrowed down to the top 50, then narrowed down to the top five by a panel of judges, and then voted on by the public. Roughly 6,000 votes were cast in total.

Kodis’ efforts to change the flag—or at least produce an alternate, unofficial flag—go back to at least 2013. His current push was inspired by a 2015 TED Talk in which designer and podcast host Roman Mars called the Milwaukee flag a “hot mess” and one of the worst in the country. And you shan’t offend the great Roman Mars.

“If the headline drops, ‘Milwaukee Adopts New City Flag,’ can you imagine the demand that there would be?” Kodis recently told CBS 58. “There’s a lot of tangible value there.” Looks like that headline, demand, and tangible value will have to wait.

Here’s the full text of the resolution adopted today: