About Us
The idea for Brand Louisville came about among childhood friends, lifelong Louisvillians who desire to strengthen local pride in our city.
The catalyst behind Brand Louisville is Charlie Farnsley, an advocate of the city and lifelong resident.
Over breakfast one morning, Charlie and his good friend Abigail Mueller were brainstorming ideas for a way to “brand” Louisville. They decided that a bumper sticker depicting the city flag would be a good start to the effort. Not overly impressed with the current city flag, they looked back at the original flag designed in 1949 and liked what they saw. Much classier, and with a fascinating history, the old flag was a perfect fit.
Figuring out exactly what the original flag looked like though was a difficult feat. After some extensive research, Farnsley finally had his breakthrough when he found a book in the Louisville Free Public Library, The Louisville Story. This book, published in the 1950s, contained a detailed description of the flag and explained the significance of the symbols and the layout.
Armed with this description, Farnsley set out to recreate the image. Local artist Waller Austin drew the fleur de lis, and graphic designer/computer guru Stofer Smith designed the layout.
Five hundred original stickers were printed and all have been sold. They can be seen on bumpers and back windshields of cars all over town. New stickers have been made and are available on this site, as well as the Why Louisville store on Bardstown Rd.
Interest in the stickers and the Brand Louisville initiative resulted in the creation of this website and encouraged us to expand our offerings of ways to brand the city. There are many ideas for expanding the site down the road. Please check back often for updates.