Print this article Andrew Yang speaks at an event announcing his candidacy for New York City mayor in Manhattan, January 14, 2021. (Mike Segar/Reuters) The NYC flag is a classic American symbol that has flown since 1915. Throwing it away would be tragic and pointless. On February 1, Andrew Yang — the New York author, entrepreneur, nonprofiteer, and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate now running for New York City mayor — tweeted that the official flag of his adopted city, a flag that has iconically flown over the New York skyline since 1915, should be offhandedly retired and replaced with a less “old” design. Advertisement “The colors are based on the Dutch Prince’s flag. . . . The seal is old,” Yang asserted, referring to the official NYC seal borne by the flag.