The Cascadia Doug Flag

“The Cascadia flag conveys something more tangible than an abstract concept of demarcation of space. It is not a flag of blood nor of the glory of a nation, but a love of the bioregion; our ecological family, natural boundaries & the place in which we live & love.”

– Alexander Baretich

The Cascadia Doug flag is a symbol for our landscape and is a direct representation of the bioregion, and for our movement. Designed in 1994 by Portland native Alexander Baretich, the blue of the flag represents the moisture-rich sky above, and the Pacific Ocean, along with the Salish Sea, lakes, and inland waters. Our home is a place of continuous cascading waters flowing from the Pacific to the western slopes of the Rockies and Cascades where water cycles back to the Pacific. The white represents snow and clouds, and the green represents the evergreen forests and fields of the Pacific Northwest. The lone-standing Douglas Fir symbolizes endurance, defiance, and resilience. All these symbols come together to symbolize what being Cascadian is all about.

By using the Doug Flag, and the green white and blue, we show a shared regional identity, and that we share common beliefs, dreams and principles. It is not ‘the Cascadia flag’ but rather, one of thousands. We hope that as an open source symbol, every community, ecoregion, watershed, business and cause will adopt and adapt the Doug Flag to their own purposes.

License & Use

Join our collective trust! Anyone is welcome to use or adapt the Cascadia flag so long as they register to do so, and agree to our terms of use. This is free of charge for all personal, non-commercial or educational purposes, and for-profit businesses under 10 employees or that make less than $100,000 per year.

The Bioregional Collective Trust, a program of the Department of Bioregion, maintains a Collective Membership mark for the Cascadia flag and works with copyright holder and flag creator Alexander Baretich to steward the symbol for group, organization, business and individual members of our collective, each of whom is interested in upholding the values of the Cascadia movement while ensuring a high quality of ethics, values and principles and that the symbol is not appropriated, defamed or misused.

By using, flying, selling or wearing the Cascadia flag or derivative, you’re agreeing to be a representative of our movement and organization. It’s our goal to help every person be as informed and able to share about the movement for which they are excited and passionate, and make sure those connections can remain positive and empowering.

Digital Assets

When you agree to the Cascadia Commons License, you or your group become a member of our Cascadia Collective Trust, and we provide a folder of digital assets including high quality vector files, informational booklets and graphics you are freely available to use. If you are a creator, you also have the option to join our Bioregional Directory, with a description of your organization or work, and link.

The Bioregional Collective Trust stewards and protects the use of bioregional symbols and intellectual property in a movement commons, to ensure they are freely available for bioregionalist, supporter and creator members consistent with bioregional values and principles, and making sure they are not misused or appropriated.