# Not being a vexillologist \[on flag design\] **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 14, 2020, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-being-a-vexillologist-on-flag-design/922934 "2020-10-14T13:51:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-being-a-vexillologist-on-flag-design/922934/41 "2020-10-16T00:32:35Z")
Going on a hunt for city flags, I found that Tiermaker has a bunch of flag-ranking pages, including this — U.S. municipal and city flags Tier List Maker > **[My ranking of U.S. city and municipal flags](https://tiermaker.com/list/history/us-municipal-and-city-flags-261980/436426)** > > My ranking of U.S. city and municipal flags Make your own ranking — > **[Create a U.S. municipal and city flags Tier List](https://tiermaker.com/create/us-municipal-and-city-flags-261980)** > > Rank more than 250 U.S. municipal and city flags ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-being-a-vexillologist-on-flag-design/922934/42 "2020-10-16T00:36:27Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’ve always been fascinated by the flag of Nepal, the only major national flag that isn’t a quadrilateral [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KidJIwJicnY/maxresdefault.jpg "We fixed Nepal's flag (YIAY #319)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KidJIwJicnY) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-being-a-vexillologist-on-flag-design/922934/43 "2020-10-16T01:18:55Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > It’s interesting that formal decisions about symbols seem to be much more difficult than others - hence the flag issues (and the question of the monarchy in Australia). No new suggestion seems to please enough people. The monarchy isn’t a purely symbolic issue for the Commonwealth countries. A few years ago we had a lengthy thread discussing the topic: “Getting rid of the monarchy is the easy part. What do you replace it with? That’s the hard part.” Much different than changing a flag. Forgot to add linky-link-link: > [@Queen Elizabeth is 90. Should she have held power as Queen this long vs letting Charles rule?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queen-elizabeth-is-90-should-she-have-held-power-as-queen-this-long-vs-letting-charles-rule/775632): > > I’m not up on the formalities of letting go of “Queen” power under English law, but Prince Charles is now 68. Is hanging onto power this long the right thing to do? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-being-a-vexillologist-on-flag-design/922934/44 "2020-10-16T06:36:13Z")
A lot of the best ones are both calligraphic _and_ representational. [This one](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Flag_of_Aioi,_Hyogo.png) uses the Latin letter A but is also a sailboat on the waves. A [lot of them](https://www.logodesignlove.com/japan-prefectural-flags) are [both kanji and imagery](http://pinktentacle.com/2009/09/typographic-town-logos-in-hiragana-katakana/). ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-being-a-vexillologist-on-flag-design/922934/45 "2020-10-16T06:59:47Z")
Arlington gets a C and Plano gets an F- but the two flags are (seemingly) conceptually the same: - White background - Stylized blue-and-red letter enclosing a star - City’s name adjacent in blue Not really seeing that huge a difference there, myself. I suppose Plano’s flag seems a little more dated? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-being-a-vexillologist-on-flag-design/922934/46 "2020-10-16T07:44:26Z")
I wonder if some [zoomorphic](https://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2006/06/zoomorphic-calligraphy.html) or [figural](https://www.arabiccalligrapher.com/styles) calligraphy could work well as elements on a flag, but there is a danger of making it too intricate. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-being-a-vexillologist-on-flag-design/922934/47 "2020-10-16T07:54:32Z")
I think it’s a lot easier with kanji and katakana than with Arabic. Blockier shapes make it easier to abstract while still recognizeable at a distance. Arabic calligraphy is lovely, but you can’t make out individual characters on a flag. Even such formal forms as _tughras_ don’t hold up nicely in flag format, I think. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-being-a-vexillologist-on-flag-design/922934/48 "2020-10-16T09:20:01Z")
Like any other fashion, it changes by era. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-being-a-vexillologist-on-flag-design/922934/49 "2020-10-16T18:52:37Z")
This makes me think of the wordmark for Washington State University, which has the letters W, S, and U stylized into the shape of a roaring cougar. > **[Logo History](https://trademarks.wsu.edu/logo-history/)** > > The Washington State University Cougar-head logo is as distinguishable as its history. Its creation by art student Randall Johnson in 1936, marks an important time in the institution’s history as a growing and vital resource for education,... ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-being-a-vexillologist-on-flag-design/922934/50 "2020-10-16T19:54:16Z")
> [@Tabco](#): > > Arlington gets a C and Plano gets an F- but the two flags are (seemingly) conceptually the same: > > - White background > - Stylized blue-and-red letter enclosing a star > - City’s name adjacent in blue > > Not really seeing that huge a difference there, myself. I suppose Plano’s flag seems a little more dated? I mean that’s one guy’s opinion. You’re free to make your own tier on that website. And judging flag designs isn’t always necessarily about concept only. Why shouldn’t execution matter? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-being-a-vexillologist-on-flag-design/922934/51 "2020-10-16T19:57:06Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > A lot of the best ones are both calligraphic _and_ representational. [This one](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Flag_of_Aioi,_Hyogo.png) uses the Latin letter A but is also a sailboat on the waves. A [lot of them](https://www.logodesignlove.com/japan-prefectural-flags) are [both kanji and imagery](http://pinktentacle.com/2009/09/typographic-town-logos-in-hiragana-katakana/). In my view, if there is any verbal element, that’s a knock against it. To the extent that a representation presents largely as a non-verbal symbol, and its verbal aspect is less prominent makes it less of a detriment. You can say that’s a letter _A_, but I didn’t perceive it as such. To the extent that my perceiving it as an _A_ is necessary to understanding the symbol, I deduct points. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-being-a-vexillologist-on-flag-design/922934/52 "2020-10-16T20:03:28Z")
It’s completely _not_ necessary. They almost all work just as pictures. That’s the fun of it - layers of meaning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-being-a-vexillologist-on-flag-design/922934.md?page=2)