New Westminster city council’s recent decision to ditch the Royal City moniker and crown logo in civic branding isn’t the first time the issue has surfaced in the city.
Here’s a look back at some of the Royal City-related moments and branding discussions that have made headlines in the Record through the years.
Mid 1800s: British Columbia’s governor and the Royal Engineers couldn’t agree on a name for the colony's new capital, so Queen Victoria settles the matter by naming the city New Westminster after her favourite part of London – and the city soon becomes known as the Royal City because it had been named by the Queen. Some have suggested the city’s moniker was related to its connection to the Royal Engineers, who came to Canada from the United Kingdom and mapped out the city in the 1800s.
January 2003: The city approves $50,000 to hire a consultant to work with the city on economic development initiatives. One of the goals of the process is to achieve a coordinated, updated, unified visual identity for the city as a whole, in order to differentiate New Westminster from other cities.
March 2004: The consultant leads a half-day creative brainstorming workshop with city staff, council and community representatives, where someone in attendance suggests the crown logo and he Royal City be removed from the city’s branding.
"It only has a small audience, which is resident and aging. Younger people don't know or care about a Royal City. Don't want to lose the historical component but need to incorporate it in a new way," says a document from that brainstorming session.
April 21, 2004: The Record publishes a story about the discussion at the brainstorming session about moving away from the crown logo and the Royal City positioning line. The article – City to look at ditching 'royal' name – prompts a flood of calls and e-mails to city hall and numerous media reports about the Royal City.
April 2004: Then-mayor Wayne Wright is deluged with phone calls and emails from people who oppose the idea of the "Royal City being un-royalized.”
"When people hear about the Royal City we are winning," he says of the publicity. "We want people to hear about the Royal City."
Staff say the idea of removing the Royal City and crown branding was an informal idea presented by a participant at the brainstorming session, not from the consultant or the city.
Wright said he's unaware of any other community in the Lower Mainland that has a nickname that's as identifiable as the Royal City.
May 2004: Then-councillor Jerry Dobrovolny says New Westminster should take better advantage of its Royal City heritage and provide more education to residents and neighbouring communities about the city's heritage.
"It clearly is a very powerful identity for the city, as we have seen,” he says about the public outcry.
Council approves recommendations to have staff work with community volunteers to prepare a newspaper supplement about New Westminster's history and to work with the school district regarding educating students about the city's history.
August 2004: The city decides to stick with its Royal City moniker and crown logo, but notes that the “positioning line” for city communications and marketing materials can be ever-changing. As an example, it’s noted that New York City is the Big Apple, but its positioning line is I Love New York.
"New Westminster – It All Begins Here" is recommended as the city’s positioning line.
April 2009: The City of New Westminster unveils its own unique rose at a dedication ceremony at city hall. Officially named the Royal City Rose, the hybrid flower has been created specifically for New Westminster by a rose breeder who experimented with different varieties and tested the rose for six years.
June 2010: An editorial in the Record suggests city leaders just might want to consider dubbing New Westminster the Fun City in light of the high number of festivals and fun events held in the city at that time, including May Day, Hyack Festival, Queensborough Days, the 12th Street Festival, Yam Jam, the Multicultural Festival, FraserFest, the Volunteer Festival, Easter in Queen’s Park, Doggy Fun Day, Sapperton Days and the Pride Festival. The editor notes that City of Festivals is a title already claimed by Edmonton and Montreal.
2014: A new swag lighting display, featuring a crown, arrives on Columbia Street – a nod to the swags that featured crowns and adorned Columbia Street during the heyday of the Golden Mile that began in the 1930s. Because of cost concerns, the city opts to purchase one swag, rather than the two that originally been envisioned council first began discussing the project in 2012.
April 2014: Real estate marketer Bob Rennie is the keynote speaker at an economic development forum, where he suggests New Westminster ditch the Royal City nickname in order to attract younger, hipper residents. He also suggests the city should adopt the acronym "NW" as a way to attract young homebuyers.
November 2014: The City of New Westminster informs a trio of civic election candidates that it’s contacted its solicitors after they mailed out brochures to voters in an envelope bearing the image of a crown over the words New Westminster. In response to a couple of complaints, the city also forwards the issue to Elections BC.
It turns out the City of New Westminster had trademarked the crown logo in 2010, and had received trademark certificates for the crown icon, as well as the crown icon with the words New Westminster below it.
“We do take this issue very seriously,” a city official told the Record.
June 2016: New Westminster's waterfront is being branded as The Riverfront as part of the city's vision for the area, which includes the Fraser River and lower Brunette riverfronts from Sapperton to Queensborough. The brand strategy and marketing plan is intended to establish a distinct identity for the waterfront and to accompany brand and marketing for promotional purchases.
"It seems like you have really nailed down the historic and the modern in New West," says Coun. Mary Trentadue, noting the two can sometimes be at odds. "I think we are trying to marry the old and the new."
2017: The local farmers market gets a new name. Formed in 2007 as the Royal City Farmers Market Society, it chooses to rebrand and change its name to New West Farmers Market in 2017.
2018: The Royal City Youth Soccer Club makes changes in order to be more diverse and a larger part of the community. In an effort to be more inclusive, it’s renamed the New Westminster Soccer Club.
July 2022: City council approves a motion by Mayor Jonathan Cote to begin the process of updating the city’s logo and phasing out the use of the “Royal City” moniker in its branding. The motion would also see the city develop a plan to engage with the community in the development “of a new brand identity that is inclusive and allows for collective pride in our city.”
