ROCK SPRINGS — A high school student who designed a flag for the City of Rock Springs was honored for his work during the Sweetwater County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees meeting Monday evening.

Brandon Swigart, a junior at Rock Springs High School, designed the flag as part of a contest hosted by the city and Rock Springs Mayor Max Mickelson. Along with having his design adopted as the city’s official flag, he won a $250 prize provided by Mickelson personally. Mickelson, along with several members of the Rock Springs City Council, attended the meeting for Swigart.

Swigart said there are three rules modern flag designers follow – do not have a large number of words on it, it should be simple enough for a six-year-old to draw, and it should symbolize the place it represents. The design features a five-sided star and a six-sided star over a trapezoid, with three bars of color running from the trapezoid to the edge of the flag. The stars represent Rock Springs’ 56 nationalities while the trapezoid represents Pilot Butte. The colors Swigart utilized came from the city’s logo.

Swigart thanked both his supporters and those who criticized his design, who include Rock Springs City Councilman Rick Milonas.

“I think it’s really crucial to have people critique your work,” he said. “I think it’s really crucial to have that just to be able to push yourself because if you’re not having people critique your work, you’re not really going to progress.”