Teenager draws flag for his hometown

Jefferson Township was established in 1804, but it never had an official town flag – until Jack Murphy decided to create one.

“It was an idea that I didn’t know I would actually do,” he said. “It wasn’t until my grandmother pushed me to try to make it happen. I ended up working with the mayor to finalize a project and it became a reality.”

The teen started the project in October 2022 when he was in seventh grade. He sent an email to the mayor. After a few meetings, emails and some design changes, Jefferson had an official city flag.

The flag was raised at City Hall on June 26.

“It was absolutely incredible because it was a very long process and he stuck to his guns from start to finish,” said Jack’s father, John. “Especially when we went to the municipal building and saw the flag for the first time and saw it go up the flagpole; it was breathtaking.”

Jack's love of flags comes from his father who introduced him to the FIFA World Cup, an international football competition. He became really interested in football and all the countries involved. He got to know the players, their backgrounds, their culture and most importantly their flags.

His favorite team is Liverpool in England. This team occupies fourth place in the Premier League.

Jack is starting his freshman year of high school and is excited to enter a new environment.

His favorite subject is world history and he is a member of the freshman football team at Jefferson Township High School. If he had to choose a career today, it would be sports medicine.

As for other students who identify a need in their town like he did at Jefferson, Jack advises, “If there are other people who are interested in their town or other things in the community, I think they should definitely act on it.”