New Zealand had similar problems to South Africa when they tried to decide on a new flag by public vote. Nobody liked any of the new designs very much, and there was no consensus.
Well, Canada dumping the Union flag in the canton, in favour of their own design, didn’t upset Britain, and its independent constitutional monarchies, that are equal partners in the Commonwealth. Why would a flag change in Australia–something that is totally under Australia’s control, since it is totally independent from Britain and a constitutional monarchy, upset Australians?
The association’s rules and the Roman Mars stuff are good guides. My own interpretation is this.
(1) No more than 5 colors, preferably no more then 3
(2) No language, letters, words, etc. All communication should be non-verbal
(3) Simole, iconic design in which all elements aren’t easily sotinguishable at a distance. Think about looking at a postage stamp at arms length and being able to distinguish everything. That means that representations of real things must be highly simplified and stylized.
If you need a concrete example, look at the flag of the State of New Mexico. That’s about as perfect as you can get.
It’s beautiful, simple, iconic, meaningful, easily viewed and identified. Compare all designs to that.
Also, it can be seen as a non-verbal element. After all, it’s just a circle.
Why would a flag change in Australia–something that is totally under Australia’s control, since it is totally independent from Britain and a constitutional monarchy, upset Australians?
Because it did, when they had a referendum on the monarchy: there wasn’t a consensus on any one alternative. I meant that there are examples, like New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, of countries not finding public consensus about such symbols within themselves. Of course it’s nothing to do with any other country, I never said it was; if the UK tried anything similar I don’t doubt we’d have the same problem.
Colorado also as a single letter, C of course.
There’s a largish roundabout in Colorado that has that letter (in those colors) in its center island.
I’ve posted before how Oregon’s is the worst of the state’s flags. It violates every rule you can think of, including some not mentioned in this thread.
Wow, it sure is! It looks like it was designed by a backward child with no imagination. As indeed it sort of was – according to Wikipedia, it was designed by the Oregon legislature.
Gaddafi’s Libyan flag had an original pattern (1977-2011):
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Flag_of_Libya_(1977–2011).svg
It looks like it was designed by a backward child with no imagination.
But fair dos, they did manage to colour inside the lines.
My favorite flag (it hangs on a wall at home) is the flag of Dominica.
Is it good or bad design?
Since good design is a matter of opinion, let’s move this to IMHO. Title edited to indicate subject more clearly.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Huh?
[Turns head sideways]
… oh.
I’ve always been fascinated by the flag of Nepal, the only major national flag that isn’t a quadrilateral
Here’s my favorite part:
You have to go to the Wikipedia site for the equations – it won’t let me copy them here.
See here, too
Actually, the reverse (it’s a two-sided flag, the only remaining state flag like that) is fine, although the beaver could be simplified. Just fly it back to front.
I’ve studied vexillology, but found it too vexing.
But at the top of my “Bucket List (of things I’ll never accomplish, so I won’t die)” is:
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Redesign American flag (Upper left corner too busy, horizontal stripes not at all slimming, and the whole thing’s asymmetrical and off balance).
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And our currency…
Nitpick: 16 rays.
Four is a sacred number which symbolizes the Circle of Life: the four directions, the four times of day, the four stages of life, and the four seasons. The circle binds the four elements of four together.
mbh, lifelong Noo Messkin.
That’s one of the rules the Oregon flag breaks not mentioned in this thread. Double sided. Very bad idea. There’s a couple ways to make it, but either one makes the flag heavier, so it doesn’t fly in the breeze very well.
Were there other state flags that also violated this rule?
Here’s a list of double-sided national and state flags. Most of them do it because they have text or maps that wouldn’t read correctly if flipped. The most recent state flag to eliminate the reverse is Massachusetts in 1971. Like Oregon, the reverse was better. Same with West Virginia, while Minnesota was equally bad either way.
I used to live in Colorado. I thought the flag was pretty good except for using the letter “C,” which was backwards on the reverse.
I get this with Latin alphabet flags, mostly, but as I’ve pointed out before, the flags of Japanese prefectures and municipalities often use calligraphy, and they are fucking awesome designs.
Yay, South Africa!
The good ones are the ones where the writing is so stylized, it presents more as an icon than as writing.