Residents, activists and local politicians have long spoken about the District becoming the 51st state, but no one has sought to actively brand the cause. Until now.

Earlier this week, Councilmember Michael A. Brown (I-At-Large) announced to his colleagues and to Mayor Vince Gray that he’d formally unveil a new brand for the statehood movement on November 8.

The brand, which is based on the logo of Destination D.C., the city’s tourism and marketing agency, will be accompanied by the roll-out of a statehood-specific website, stickers, 100,000 brochures, 1,000 calendars and five distinct advertisements that will appear on 25 Metrobuses starting early next month. (One of the ads is pictured below.)

A Brown aide said that the longtime statehood advocate sought a “fresh, clean approach” for the cause’s branding, and that he had already received positive feedback from a number of activists. The branding campaign will be tied to plans to get legislatures from across the country to pass ceremonial measures backing statehood for the District. This summer, at the request of Councilmember David Catania (I-At Large), a New Hampshire legislator introduced such a resolution.

This certainly isn’t Brown’s first foray into the fight for statehood. Earlier this year, he teamed up with Councilmember Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) in an attempt to add “Taxation Without Representation” to the District’s flag; Brown also proposed re-naming three prominent D.C. streets to bring more attention to the District’s situation.

For years, statehood was put on the back burner as D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and local D.C. voting rights activists focused on legislation that would give the District a single voting seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. But since the failure of that proposal last year, activists and organizations have stepped up their demands for statehood and self-determination. On Wednesday, speakers at D.C. Vote’s Champions of Democracy dinner spoke of a more aggressive stance that had been taken throughout 2011, including the arrest of 72 people at various protests.

Brown will officially unveil the new statehood branding campaign at 10:30 a.m. on November 8 in front of the John A. Wilson Building.