By SCOTT MERZBACH Staff Writer

A town flag designed by renowned Hatfield illustrator Barry Moser could soon be flying in the Great Fall of Flags at the statehouse in Boston.

After nearly two years of discussing how to come up with an acceptable official flag for Amherst, which included a contest in which residents could submit designs, the Design Review Board and Historical Commission Tuesday agreed to recommend to the Select Board one of nine designs provided by Moser.

The flag depicts a U-shaped heraldic shield set against a maroon backdrop. At the center of the shield, which is akin to a coat of arms, is the word "Amherst" spelled out in yellow letters. Above this is an open book, to represent the town as a place where higher learning takes place, and three sheaves of wheat below, indicating Amherst's agricultural foundation.

"Most people like this the best even if they have some reservations," said Janet Winston, chairwoman of the Design Review Board.

One reservation, said associate planner Nate Malloy, was that Amherst's farms grew crops other than wheat.

"Wheat was not harvested in Amherst," Malloy said.

But members of both boards are confident that people who view the flag would understand that wheat is just a symbol for agricultural. They were reluctant to put another crop, such as asparagus, in its place, because that is more closely associated with Hadley.

The process of creating a town flag was begun by Select Board member Diana Stein, who in June 2010 came up with the plan. The original rules required that the elements of the town seal, the book and the plow, be incorporated into the design. The Select Board received eight submissions, followed by an online vote by the public in November 2010 to choose the top three designs. A review by the Design Review Board and Historical Commission in December completed the process.

While the two boards selected elements from three of the submissions to incorporate into the final design, none of the designs was considered strong enough to merit moving forward.

Moser, whose involvement in project was initiated through contact by Select Board member Jim Wald, will be asked to refine and tweak some details of the design over the coming weeks, first by inserting the town's founding date and also by providing information about the specific Pantone colors that should be used.

Moser is best known for completing the first illustrated edition of the Holy Bible since the mid-19th century, and he won the National Book Award for Design in 1983 for Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."

"I'm really confident in his art," said Historcial Commission member Lynda Faye. "I knew that he would do a beautiful job."

Historical Commission Chairman Michael Hanke said many of the town flags at the statehouse appeared to be "cobbled together," often through placing the town seals at their center.

The state first unveiled the idea of the Great Hall of Flags in 1992 and solicited flags from each municipality to make both a colorful display and to reduce an echo effect in the assembly room. Amherst is now one of only a handful of 351 communities across the state not represented.

Having Moser's art representing Amherst will be a good thing for the town, said Design Review Board member Derek Noble.

"This would definitely be one of the better ones," Noble said.