#WichitaFlagSummerTravelContest promotes Wichita pride around the world

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect hashtag for the contest.

The Wichita flag represents community to the 390,000 people who call the largest city in Kansas home.

Now, the flag is making its way around the country and world, taking Wichita pride along with it.

Angie Prather and Courtney Sendall of the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce manage the Wichita flag social media accounts. This year they have been working on the second annual #WichitaFlagSummerTravelContest, attempting to gather photos of the Wichita flag in all 50 states and around the world.

“If you travel, if you move, you can take a piece of home with you,” said Prather, vice president of marketing, communications and investor relations with the Wichita Chamber.

“Wichita will always be your home.”

So far, the Chamber has photos from 45 states, which it is displaying on a graphic on the flag’s Twitter account. It also has photos of the flag from 24 countries, the farthest being Vietnam.

Through the submissions the Chamber has received, two stories have stood out.

Last year, Michael Rogers was interrogated in Paris after attempting to take the flag up the Eiffel Tower. Officials there had banned all flags, and Rogers was told to leave.

This year, Hillary Martin found a sticker of the Wichita flag at Temple Bar in Dublin, Ireland.

Sendall, manager of marketing and communications for the chamber, said she hopes that once the contest completes the United States, it can extend its online graphic onto a globe.

“We’d love to finish out this year,” Sendall said. Last year the contest finished with 25 states.

Currently, the missing states are Delaware, Idaho, Maryland, Mississippi and Indiana.

To participate, follow @WichitaFlag and post pictures on Instagram of places you visit with the flag using #WichitaFlagSummerTravelContest. Local businesses will donate prizes to the winners.

Participants have until Aug. 31 to submit photos. For more information go to http://bit.ly/2t2Xznt.

This story was originally published July 21, 2017 at 7:36 PM with the headline "#WichitaFlagSummerTravelContest promotes Wichita pride around the world."