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Dressed in a festive shirt to commemorate the day, Mayor Thurman Bartie on Tuesday took a moment before the regular city council meeting to display the newly recreated City of Port Arthur flag.

“This is the City of Port Arthur’s flag, and on this Valentine’s Day, we love Port Arthur,” he said while holding the fabric posted behind the bench in council’s chambers.

The flag was presented to councilmembers Jan. 17 by the Quasquicentennial Steering Committee.

“The specifications for the flag of the City of Port Arthur are in the charter,” said Assistant City Manager Albert Thigpen, who serves on the committee with Pat Avery and Verna Rutherford.

“Over time, there were less and less City of Port Arthur flags around. One of the things that the mayor charged us with is that people need to know, one, Port Arthur has a flag, and we need to get the flag out there.”

The committee then had the flag recreated.

The specifications for the city flag are listed in the charter as:

“The flag of the city shall be a gold emblem in the form of the State of Texas on a white background with gold streamers at the top and bottom of the flag with the words “City of Port Arthur, Texas” in brown lettering (“City of” being on the top streamer and “Port Arthur, Texas”, on the bottom streamer). Upon the emblem of the State of Texas shall be a drawing in brown lines depicting a bridge and refinery. There shall be a red oleander at the location of the City of Port Arthur on the emblem of the State of Texas. Such flag is depicted on a drawing as follows and made a part of this section.”

The charter also specifies the look of the city seal, as well as the official colors.

Port Arthur’s colors are gold and white, with the white representing “purity of purpose in the government and its citizens working together for the betterment of the city,” and the gold representing “the wealth of natural resources and talent inherent in the city and its people.”

The Quasquicentennial Steering Committee is arranging celebrations throughout the year to pay tribute to the city’s 125th anniversary.

The kick-off was the annual Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce banquet on Jan. 26.