Rate & Discuss State Flags

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,712]

It's ya weird boy Kyoshi back at it again with another feeble *ahem* attempt at promoting state individuality. One thing I love about each state is that each one has its own flag, something that many people often forget (and most people outside of the US don't even know at all seems). While the US flag is spammed at every possible inch of land to constantly shove fake patriotism down our throat, the humble state flags are seldom flown. The states are always lumped into the generic mass of "murica". 

So let's show some love to these often ignored symbols. Here's what I was thinking: In a post, put in any number of state flags and rate each one on a scale of 1-10. With this rating you can also put what you like or dislike about said flag. Don't worry about posting tons in one post, just post whichever ones you want right now and you can always rate more at a later time. 

I shall begin with my state. 

Indiana

Rating: 9/10

Of course one could say I am biased but I do legitimately love the Indiana flag. The colors contrast very well with the dark blue allowing the gold to POP.  I also find the design to be a cool symbol. The stars are the other states in the union at the time but the torch represents Indiana and it being the best of the best. We are definitely NOT the best of the best but I like the confidence.  Such a shame my state is so damn stupid when we have such a good flag. 

Virginia

Rating: 9/10

Arguably the most badass of all the state flags, this one rules. It is a flag that has a design very similar to others in that it features a one color background with the state seal at the center, but Virginia has an awesome state seal. The phrase "Sic Semper Tryannis" means Thus Ever Unto Tyrants, which is a statement against tyranny. This combined with the imagery of a dude getting bopped is dope. 

 

[SharpWit 2,702]

Washington

Rating: 7/10

A little biased since it's my state flag, but I'm also known for giving harsh reviews of everything. This flag earns most of its respect simply for standing out among most US flags by going with a green background, which is very representative for our title as the Evergreen State, and for our very environmentally conscious population. However, the flag commits the common sin of simply adopting our state seal on a banner and looking like a minimalist banknote. The gold doesn't do anything to help this image, but it pairs well with the green. The blue background of the seal and light skin color of George Washington are almost garish. One aspect of a good flag though is it being easy to recognize from a distance, and thus one definitely achieves that.

Immediate improvement could be achieved by recoloring the blue as green and the light skin and white as gold. A little simplication can do a lot. I would opt for getting rid of the state seal instead for a gold statuesque George Washington on a horse, with a golden wreath surrounding it. Having it be made up Douglass fir branches would add further representation.

[Here No Longer 5,276]

Texas

 

 

Rating: 5/10

 

Comment: Frankly I find this flag one of the most uncreative in the whole of the Union. It just says "hey we're a state." But I will admit the history BEHIND why it's a single star is interesting. Especially the fact that for about 10 years Texas was its own country. But it's still uncreative as f***, and it doesn't help I'm kind of tired of seeing it almost more than I do the actual American Flag. Everybody hates on Washington's, and although I'll admit it's uninspired, it's much better than this.

Edited July 19, 2020 by Dusknoir

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,712]

1 hour ago, Dusknoir said:

Texas

Rating: 5/10

 

Comment: Frankly I find this flag one of the most uncreative in the whole of the Union. It just says "hey we're a state." But I will admit the history BEHIND why it's a single star is interesting. Especially the fact that for about 10 years Texas was its own country. But it's still uncreative as f***, and it doesn't help I'm kind of tired of seeing it almost more than I do the actual American Flag.

I like the description of "hey we're a state" I will say that I wish so much that Hoosiers would fly the Indiana flag like Texans fly theirs. 

[ShadOBabe 19,006]

TEXAS

Perfect! 10/10

Sleek, iconic, brilliant in is simplicity and lack of obnoxious details and clutter! Instantly recognizable, especially from a distance. Stop choking your flags with unnecessary detail.

Only rivals are Arizona (lovely radiance on the star) and New Mexico (also instantly recognizable from a distance, with a daring focus on yellow).

9.5/10 for both!

Alaska has a wonderful theme with its Big Dipper, but from a distance looks like a plain flat blue. Such a bummer. I love the Big Dipper constellation.

8/10.

[Denim&Venöm 19,231]

If it didn't have the name or the year on it, you wouldn't know what state this was. And that's the problem. State seals were made for documents. The work inside of government buildings. Not to be flown out in public. State seal atop a single color, usually blue, background is such a cop out. I don't care about the representation. It's lazy and uninspired. 1/10. 

 

Y'know what does work? 

It's iconic. You see it and immediately know what it represents. When people think state flags, this is probably the top five of what shows up in their head. When folks wanna show state pride, they don't often go to state flags. It's usually a sports team, or the flags of the country whose immigrants defined that state. But this flag symbolizes the Alaskan way of life. It's a mark of pride and it suits the state well and it's aesthetically pleasing.  Simple, yet effective. 10/10. 

[Twisted Cyclone 🚓 6,261]

I'll rate the flag of my state, the meme state of Florida. Overall it's a basic flag but that doesn't necessarily mean bad. It's influences come from being a Spanish colony back in the 1500-1700s. The cross is from the old Colonial Spanish flag, the Cross of Burgundy. In fact, that very same old flag still flies at the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida. With all of the history of what the flag means, it saves it from being a carbon copy state flag so therefore I'll rate it 8/10. While not the best flag in the US, it certainly isn't the worst.

[I used to be a stranger 7,994]

There are lots of US State flags which are beautiful or unique enough that they can fly on their own fields.

Of all of them, I'd say Texas, New Mexico and Alaska are so good that they could be national flags.

There are some US State flags which have good elements, but with a bit of refinement could be truly great.

There are two classes of American State flags which need change, in order of priority: those with clear racial prejudices, and those that are simply ugly seal-on-a-bedsheets (SOABs).

Racially charged flags, aka ones that directly reference and unashamedly promote the Confederate States of America. While I concede that many aspects of Confederate imagery are rooted in much older symbolism (such as St. Andrew's cross), the connotation is too dear and too negative for the majority of peoples living today for that to be a strong defense. 

Notably on this list, Mississippi is included in its old appearance, as of a month ago. At time of posting, Mississippi does not have a flag: a design competition is currently underway to change it.

Old

My favorite proposal is this one.

However it is probably not going to win, because it does not contain the Motto "In God We Trust", which apparently is a design requirement according to the State Legislature.

Below are the SOABs. Each of them have a number of elements which could be emphasized to make a unique flag of their own: buried in each of these flags is a beautiful emblem waiting to emerge. Special shoutouts to the flags that are presently so bad that they had to resort to putting the state's name on them; defeating the purpose of a flag's symbolism entirely. (California gets a pass in this regard because theirs is unique and cohesive enough to make it work.)

Worst prizes go to Georgia. Georgia gets second mention for redesigning its flag no fewer than 4 times in the past century, each one being more racist than the last. (Image from Wikipedia, retrieved 2020-07-18)

I think the two most American things about all state flags in general are the facts that NONE of them use the same Aspect Ratio (size), and despite the fact that nearly all of them use blue somewhere, NONE OF THEM use the same shades of blue. Each state has to do things their own way, because nothing quite says "the American dream" quite like going it alone.

 

Edited July 19, 2020 by Blue

[I used to be a stranger 7,994]

Hot take:

All states in the style of California. (Art by eccekevin)

[King of Canterlot 9,603]

On 7/18/2020 at 8:29 PM, Denim&Venöm said:

If it didn't have the name or the year on it, you wouldn't know what state this was. And that's the problem. State seals were made for documents. The work inside of government buildings. Not to be flown out in public. State seal atop a single color, usually blue, background is such a cop out. I don't care about the representation. It's lazy and uninspired.

I agree 100%, I really dislike state flags where all it is is just the state seal on top of some basic background color (usually blue, but in Illinois case it's white). I wish the Minnesota state flag was something more unique than just our state seal. While the state seal is a cool emblem, our state flag should be something different. I personally think that the Minnesota state flag should include these elements- somehow reference the Mississippi River, the Northern Star (cuz we're known as the North-Star state), and the state bird the Common Loon (which can already be found on several different sports teams here and is the logo for the state lottery). I think that having those three elements on a new state flag would be a drastic improvement from our current flag, pictured below-

Spoiler

Ugh, it's even worse than I thought it was..........

Did I forget to mention that I also hate having words on flags? If you can make a flag unique looking enough (like Indiana, Ohio, or Rhode Island) you don't even need to have it stated anywhere on the flag what place that flag is representing because people would just know, ya know?   

[ExplosionMare 18,080]

There are too many red, white, and blue flags in the world