White Lake Yacht Club

History of the Burgee

The 1913 reproduction shown above was taken from a summer program signed by the Senior Officer of that year, Commodore E.E. Roberts. The designer of this burgee is not known.

In 1925 the forerunner of our present burgee was designed and drawn for the Mississippi Valley Class "A" speed boat races by Clarence E. Pitkin. Here, for the first time, we see the outline of Lake Michigan with an arrow drawn into the middle tip of the "W" (the small arrow is not visible in the above design) and pointing to a spot on the edge of Lake Michigan where we find White Lake.

The finished burgee of today, so familiar to all, as seen on the hat emblems, etc., was designed in 1927 by Clarence E. Pitkin.

The art work as seen above and on our stationary was redrawn by Murray Mason of St. Louis in 1972 and again in 1975 by Donald Lambur, also of St. Louis. They took a few liberties as each thought White Lake should be enlarged or characterized.

Our burgee is one of only a few that was designed with a story in mind. The burgee, triangular in shape, represents the cruising and sailing members, while the propeller in the background symbolizes the power members of our club. Superimposed on the propeller is a map of Lake Michigan and over this a "W" for White Lake, the middle section of which points to the location of White Lake on the shore of Lake Michigan. White Lake was originally positioned at the hub of the propeller designating White Lake as the hub of all Great Lakes' activity.

by C. G. Pitkin 1975

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