I have been reading the National Geographic Almanac when otherwise busy. It shows the 195 flags of various countries, the history of different American flags and the state flags.
I’m familiar, of course, with the provincial and territorial flags of Canada. You don’t see them very often. At political debates and the occasional bumper sticker. The occasional government building. A little more often in New Brunswick. But they are small and have the coolest flag.
Without the desire to exhaustively research this (one previous thread has dozens of wiki sites):
Could most Americans recognize other state flags?
What’s the deal with the six or so flags with words? They won’t recognize us. We better make sure they know Montana rocks! No national flags have place names…
Mississippi changed its flag a few years ago. Do people generally like their state flags? Could they draw their own state flag? Are any controversial?
From a purely design perspective, I like a little more than half of national flags, about half of our provincial ones, almost a quarter of the state flags. What’s up with Maryland?
They should all have the state name. Presumptuous otherwise.
I hear Texans like their flag. It’s easy to draw. There are lots of state flags that are controversial. Massachusetts (my state) might change theirs - it has an arm holding a sword above an Algonquin native, which is a bad look.
I can recognize several, but not all. I suspect this is true of most Americans
Not sure about that - some flags from Muslim nations have Arabic writing on them, they might say anything but I wouldn’t know what it meant.
As I am not overly attached to my state of residence I’m sort of indifferent to the flag of any state I’ve lived in (and probably wouldn’t even recognize the flag of the state I was born in, not having lived there for a half century).
Sure, I could draw my state flag - I did go to college for an art degree and I have some ability to draw. I’ve just never bothered.
Of course some are controversial, especially the ones incorporating that Confederates States of America Stars and Bars. That’s why Mississippi changed the flag.
The California flag does have a bear on it, and the words “California Republic,” because it was one of the flags California had before it was a state. The bear is a grizzly, btw. A bear which is extinct in California now.
I collect bear related items, and I’m a native Californian, so I have a number of flag motif items.
I can recognize some state flags, but mostly I find they’re pretty boring.
No. They might recognize their own and some iconic ones, but would miss the rest. I don’t know anyone who knows all the “seal on a blue bedsheet” flags.
For Arkansas, at least, it’s because there has historically been a certain pride in the name of the state. I suspect this is true of many other states who chose to actually include the name on the flag, though some may have chosen it to make them easier to disambiguate.
I agree most are indifferent, except when the reason for changing it has to do with dishonoring the confederacy. Though Maine did vote to keep their blue bedsheet flag, despite how hard it is to recognize something with such small details.
There are tons of articles and videos on what vexillologists think make for a good flag. The general gist I got is that it should be recognizable at a small size/large distance (e.g. emoji sized), be easy enough a child could draw it, and actually have some symbolism relevant to the country.
As for the Maryland flag: it’s apparently just the coat of arms of the guy who founded Maryland, stripped down to just what was on the shield. Like many such shields, it’s a combination from both sides of his family, as both carried nobility. And, while the red and white part was used in by the Confederacy, it belonged to them first.
I think Arizona has a beautiful flag. A red and yellow sunrise with a copper (Arizona mines 2/3 of the nation’s copper) colored star. Having the name Arizona on the flag would detract from its beauty.
I grew up in Texas, and I’ll never forget what that flag looks like. You see it flying everywhere in the state—not just in front of government buildings. It looks like an ultra-simplified version of the US flag: one star, one red stripe, one white stripe. Easy peasy.
The Colorado flag is another easy one; it’s got a huge “C” on it, and looks like something a graphic designer would produce.
I lived in Illinois for almost 30 years. I couldn’t tell you what the Illinois state flag looks like.
ETA: I looked up the Illinois flag. Holy crap. It’s got an eagle, a rock with some dates on it, some water, a setting (or rising) sun, and a bunch of other random stuff. It also says “ILLINOIS,” in case people can’t figure out all that other jazz.
I’ve never had a Lady Baltimore Cake but I am assuming it comes with psychedelic frosting.
Lady Virginia, holding a spear and short sword, showing a puppy while standing on the upper chest of tyranny. A tyranny looks male, but who knows what is under that skirt?
Arizona might be my favourite flag. Nice design and colours. Not even vaguely reminiscent of a People’s Republic. Nope.
Vexillologists need to stop whining. They’d love it if every flag had a Nike swoosh or an Amazon smirk or some other design-school thingy on it.
What I like about state flags is most of them are a mishmosh of forgotten symbols no kid could draw, or explain. There’s no design code. Change yours if you like, put the Rolling Stones lips on it, just remember your neighbor’s flag has a bird holding a fish or a shoe or something, and they think they’re better than you.
@suranyi - It is true you see the Quebec flag everywhere en la belle province. They have also requested an emoji. But that’s a unique society - full of lardons, lumberjacks, laine et La Maudite. Provincial symbols are much rarer in other nations.
