In a highly contentious 3-2 vote, the Warrenton City Commission has selected the daffodil as its new official city flower, replacing the long-tenured phlox. By selecting the daffodil as its city flower, Warrenton joins other politically moderate rural towns in the Pacific Northwest that want to distance themselves from inland rural areas that are sometimes viewed as socially regressive and anti-government.
In a joint-statement released last Tuesday, the Commission said, “This was a way for us to align ourselves with other moderate coastal communities that wish to respect the conservative values of our long-time, multi-generational residents without offending the sensibilities of newcomers and our important tourist industry.”
The Warrenton City Commision’s* decision is part of a “most emerging” West Coast trend of using official flowers to signal the political personality of a region. For example, neo-dystopian tax-and-spend populist communities, such as Seattle, have adopted the dahlia, while quasi-nihilist anarcho-philistine communities, including the area known as “The State of Jackson”, have adopted the Oregon grape as their official flower.
When asked specifically what the daffodil is meant to represent, City Commissioner Rick Newton said, “It’s difficult to articulate, but it more-or-less says that Warrenton supports legalized herb and is an ally to the LGBTQ community, but not yet ready to fully embrace BLM or democratic socialism… Er, wait. Maybe it’s the other way around.”
The two dissenting votes were cast by Commissioners Mark Baldwin and Gerald Poe, who voiced concern that the Daffodil is also the official city flower of New York City, which is, statistically speaking, the fourth most likely place that Warrentonians say they “sorta like” but would never want to visit.
*If you think I didn’t notice that commission is misspelled here, you’re sadly mistaken. This was 100% on purpose.
The Warrenton Warrior Reader 