The backlash to the city of Cedar Park’s new flag started shortly after it was unveiled in early December.

More than 200 people posted on Facebook about how much they hated it, including the four white X’s running down its center, and others told officials the public should have had a say in its design.

Now the city could be getting another flag.

The Cedar Park City Council will hold a public hearing Thursday night about the green, blue and white flag. Mayor Matt Powell said this week he is going to suggest to the council that it consider giving people an option to vote on the design they want.

"I want a flag that the community will rally around," Powell said. "Perhaps it is the nature of social media, but much of what has been shared with us has been pretty hurtful and even personal."

He said the City Council chose the flag in a process that included at least three public meetings and that he has received some positive comments about its design.

A subcommittee of three council members, including Powell, selected two finalists out of 250 design entries submitted in April by the public. The winning design the council chose in September was submitted by resident Catherine Van Arnam.

One of the critics of the flag, Joe Pollard, said what bothered him the most about it was that the public wasn’t asked to vote on the final design.

"I’m kind of shocked," said Pollard, who is a pharmaceutical research project manager. "The logical thing would be to pick the four top designs and put them up to the citizens for a vote." Pollard submitted one of the designs for the flag that was not chosen.

Marla Bays, a retired Williamson County resident, said that when she first saw a picture of the new flag on a Facebook post, she "thought maybe it was a contest for first-graders to design a flag symbol for this city." She said she didn’t like the four white X’s because they had a "definite ‘don’t move here’ look."

Conor Mongan, a designer who submitted four designs for the flag that weren’t chosen, said he understood the X’s on the flag were supposed to symbolize barbed wire. "That’s not usually the kind of symbol you would want to represent a family-friendly city that prides itself on commerce," he said.

The winning design Arnam submitted had three white X’s, but the city added a fourth to honor all the names the city has had. Arnam said the X’s also represent a few things about the city’s history, including the cedar posts that some of the first settlers in the area produced and the barbed wire that strung the posts together.

"Barbed wire represents the Texas spirit, which is so finely represented in Cedar Park," she said. "Barbed wire protects property, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." She said green represents the city’s growth and prosperity, as well as the city’s parkland. The blue represents the creeks that attracted settlers to the area, said Arnam, who works in constituent relations for Austin City Council Member Ellen Troxclair.

Powell said what he likes about the flag is that it is "loaded with symbolism and shows a deep understanding of the city’s history."

Stephen Thomas, one of the council members who approved the final design, said this week the backlash showed the council should have taken "more input from citizens on the final selection."

"Lesson learned," he said.

Lyle Grimes was the only council member who voted against the flag. "I don’t currently believe the flag we have represents Cedar Park; that’s why I voted against it," he said this week.

The flag is flying at 10 city locations, including Veterans Memorial Park, City Hall, the Police Department, all of the city’s four fire stations and the city library. The city has spent $6,985 for the flags at the city facilities as well as some desktop flags, said Jennie Huerta, a city spokeswoman.