When we reported in September how some residents of Arlington disliked the county’s $39,000 logo, we assumed it would blow over. (One person said it made the Arlington House look ‘drunk.’) We were wrong.

Now, nearly two months since the unveiling, the Post reported yesterday that over 100 residents had signed a petition circulated by an activist seeking to restrict the logo’s use or work towards a “complete rollback.” The agitator, a retired journalist, told the Post he thinks the logo is an “abomination.”

Meanwhile, county officials have set up a special webpage explaining and defending their logo, boasting the maligned graphic has won a “Silver Inkwell Award,” and arguing the logo could help “brand” the County:

The new logo conceptually captures who we are as well as what we aspire to be as a community. The logo is evocative of our history and our traditions. At the same time, its clean, contemporary lines denote a community capable of transformation.

A small pop-up window on the logo’s cost argues it likely cost only 1/3 of the roughly $39,000 figure widely quoted by media, alleging the Unilever company spent $12 million on their logo.

Call us old fashioned, but we’re a bit baffled by all this talk of “branding” a county government. We have always voted for officials who will effectively administer public policy and services, not channel regional zeitgeist.