It was an ordinary day. In the 18th century, prominent citizen John Wright named an aspiring city in Pennsylvania after his former home of Lancaster, England. Lancaster's identity as the Red Rose City is a nod to that heritage, as the red rose was the heraldic badge of the House of Lancaster. That tradition continues today, with events like the Red Rose Run and the Red Rose Drop. And so, today, yet another rose logo will be added with the red rose being the symbol on the flag of the 79th U.S. Women's Open Golf Tournament. The tournament will run from May 28 to June 2, in which the fiercest women golfers will compete. The process to create the logo started in 2021. Rory Connaughton said that one thing was clear early in the design process: the logo needed to reflect the community of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The club felt that in addition to shining the spotlight on the golf course, one of the keys to success of the open was to shine the light on Lancaster County and to engage the entire community. Connaughton said, "We wanted a logo that represented that." In 2015, the first time Lancaster County hosted the U.S. Women's Open, the championship logo featured a hex design. That logo was nearly reused for this year's tournament until Bryan Magee, a championship director with the United States Golf Association, entered discussions in 2024. After conversations between Lancaster Country Club and USGA, the two settled on high-lighting the red heraldic rose. The rose used on Lancaster's seal and flag is inspired by the Red Rose of Lancashire in England, the rosa Gallic. It was the heraldic badge of the House of Lancaster in the 14th century. After the British civil wars of the 15th century, the red rose became the symbol of the English monarchy. In addition to being seen frequently in Manchester and Liverpool, the red heraldic rose can be spotted in Lancaster County on various city-owned vehicles and Lancaster County media. While the red heraldic rose was not decided upon until this year, the rose used for the 2024 USWO had been designed before discussion of this year's event logo began. Graphic designer Orin Duffy, who is Connaughton's sister, had created an original design of the red heraldic rose that had been used previously within the Lancaster Country Club. As the 2024 U.S. Women's Open drew near, Duffy worked with the USGA design team to adapt her design for the official logo. What resulted was a "collaborative effort." "We took her version of the logo and the various colors that go with that, and the USGA in-house design team got involved with it. They made it a three-color logo version and refined a couple of things on the outer edges of the rose." Thus, the design for the 79th U.S. Women's Open in Lancaster came to life. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Sorry I couldn't find a logo that had the entire bottom of the design on it!
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