# Judging state flags **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 2, 2015, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judging-state-flags/724094 "2015-07-02T23:58:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judging-state-flags/724094/101 "2015-07-10T21:29:33Z")
> [@syncrolecyne](#): > > Puerto Rican flag, as it is so recognizable and alludes to both the U.S. can Cuban flags. Interesting, I never noticed that the Cuban and Puerto Rican flags are like mirror universe twins of each other. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judging-state-flags/724094/102 "2015-07-10T22:02:06Z")
You want a busy flag? [Try the flag of Detroit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Detroit#/media/File:Flag_of_Detroit,_Michigan.svg). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judging-state-flags/724094/103 "2015-07-11T07:32:47Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > St Andrew’s Cross is white on blue Doesn’t have to be, any diagonal cross is a St Andrew’s Cross because that’s how he’s said to have been executed. > [@](#): > > ; it’s the national flag of Scotland. When it’s white on blue, yes. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judging-state-flags/724094/104 "2015-07-11T13:50:16Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > St Andrew’s Cross is white on blue; it’s the national flag of Scotland. **(Though there are other variations; see link.)** > > [Saltire - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltire) Nota bene. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judging-state-flags/724094/105 "2015-07-11T15:54:31Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Interesting, I never noticed that the Cuban and Puerto Rican flags are like mirror universe twins of each other. Was intentional. In 1895 the movement trying to liberate the last two Spanish American colonies and raise US support for the cause decided at a meeting in New York City to use reverse-color flags to represent the two components. They based themselves on the older design the better-established and organized Cubans were already using, and on how other prior-used rebel flags had used a star on blue for PR and on red for Cuba. In the practice, the PR flag has since had divergent evolution – when the Americans took over, the PR flag was NOT legally adopted until 1952 and in the late 1930s to 1951 was even considered “subversive materials” and you’d be in trouble for flying it. Meanwhile the Cubans changed their color and plotting specifications a couple of times, while PR has never adopted a color/dimensions chart – when it was first officialized in 1952 they just took the colors and dimensions from the US flag for expedience’s sake, but everyone knew that was not right. Adjustments have been made but to this day people waste time arguing as to what was the real original and how the lighter the blue you use, the more nationalistic you are. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judging-state-flags/724094/106 "2015-07-11T16:03:13Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > You want a busy flag? [Try the flag of Detroit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Detroit#/media/File:Flag_of_Detroit,_Michigan.svg). Presciently, the City seal shows the city burning, with the motto, “look forward to better, rise from the ashes”… ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judging-state-flags/724094/107 "2015-07-11T20:19:44Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Presciently, the City seal shows the city burning, with the motto, “look forward to better, rise from the ashes”… I get it, buuuut in case people don’t know, the seal and motto were created after [the Great Fire of 1805](http://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/great-fire-1805). The population was only 600, they didn’t have a professional fire department\* and the buildings were wood. Yeah… The only structures standing at the end were the stone fort and brick chimneys. _Everything_ else burned to the ground. Ouch. - which isn’t surprising, for the time, population level and remoteness of location. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judging-state-flags/724094/108 "2015-07-11T23:32:12Z")
Given that the history of civic symbols in Georgia illustrates the danger of [not having enough imagination](https://www.ultimateflags.com/images/P/buy_georgia_previous_flag-01-01.jpg) and having [far too much](http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01639/izzy3_1639444c.jpg), Atlanta doesn’t come out _too_ badly with our city flag: [https://d2hpobm9braca2.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Atlanta-City-Flag.gif](https://d2hpobm9braca2.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Atlanta-City-Flag.gif). I mean, _yes_ it’s another variation on the boring seal-on-dark-blue-field, but we’ve got a badass phoenix on it. I would prefer the phoenix in gold, rising from red flames, on a white background, but I’m not totally unhappy with our flag. And it could have been [so much worse.](http://nysiaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/georgia-flag.png) ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judging-state-flags/724094/109 "2015-07-12T03:39:46Z")
You want a flag with a phoenix rising out of the flames? > **[Flag of San Francisco](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_San_Francisco#/media/File:Flag_of_San_Francisco.svg)** > > The Flag of the City and County of San Francisco is the municipal flag of San Francisco, California. The flag's central symbol, a rising phoenix, often is assumed to refer to the city's recovery from the 1906 earthquake and subsequent fires. However, the phoenix had been a civic symbol of San Francisco at least since 1852, when it featured on the first official seal of the City. The Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco codified the design of the current flag on December 16... And it was designed before the 1906 earthquake. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judging-state-flags/724094/110 "2015-07-13T15:37:29Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > That’s a very good question! > > It turns out that was the city’s Civil War battle flag, so it has history behind it. It really is a fine flag! I’ve been doing some more research into that small flag located in one of the gear quadrants in the Milwaukee flag. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Milwaukee) and many other sources cite that it was a Civil War battle flag for the city of Milwaukee, but I can’t find any evidence to support that claim First of all, I am not finding any references to cities even \*having \* battle flags. Some regiments may have been comprised mostly of men from certain areas, but that’s not really the same thing. [This website](http://www.wisconsinbattleflags.com/) about Wisconsin battle flags show that there are basically two standard models, a shield on blue field, or variation on the stars and stripes. I have not been able to find any Wisconsin civil war flags that even approximate two red bands, a white center band, and a gold and blue star. If anything, it looks a lot like a [service flag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_flag) displayed by those who have family members fighting in the armed forces. I’d really like to know where that flag came from. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judging-state-flags/724094/111 "2015-07-13T19:25:48Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > You want a busy flag? [Try the flag of Detroit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Detroit#/media/File:Flag_of_Detroit,_Michigan.svg). Compared to the Maryland flag, it doesn’t _feel_ that busy to me, maybe because the pieces of the Detroit flag hang together better than those of the [Maryland flag](http://www.annin.com/images/FLAGUS_maryland.gif). The red and yellow field is next to a red and white field, which is next to a yellow and white field, which is next to a blue and white field. And the busiest individual field is the one with the diagonal red and white stripes, which is a lot calmer than the two black-and-yellow fields in the Maryland flag. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judging-state-flags/724094/112 "2015-07-13T20:55:53Z")
The Maryland flag follows the rules of heraldry. It’s two quartered arms [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judging-state-flags/724094.md?page=5)