Of course it works - it’s the products of centuries of heraldic design principles, that aren’t based on the idea that a flag is only good if it can be drawn by a first-grader.
I was in my 30s when I realized that other states didn’t use Washington’s head for state highways. It’s something I had never really thought about, until I was driving in the midwest and realized that only Washington was going to put Washington’s profile on everything.
I don’t think there’s anything “of course it works” about it. Plenty of old designs look like shit today to me. Maryland is on the cusp for my graphic preferences, but it just crosses over for its wackiness while still retaining design principles I like. Part of it, I think, is it doesn’t have much competition as far as state flags go, so it’ll make top ten for me.
Nor for me now that I try it. Anyhow, it’s an amazon page for the Anglesey County flag. There were a few choices for other counties that came up as well.
The ‘h’ is missing in ‘https’
Right. The MD flag is the result of the secondary purpose of heraldry. The primary purpose is to identify the individual wearing it. The secondary purpose is to show how high-end your family is by blending in the arms of the hoity-toity distaff family as well. Sometimes, like for MD, both of the families already had bold, striking coats of arms. So adding them together just made it even busier visually. Lucky for MD, the result was also beautiful.
There’s a link to a list of suppliers on that County Flags website:
I’d argue that they’re distinctive through ubiquity, not through design (e.g. there are other flags quite like the USA one that aren’t as widespread, so it’s clearly not the design itself that renders it distinctive. Similarly, the UK one has been incorporated into other flags, which helps its brand recognition) So they’re distinctive in spite of, not because of, their design.
Although IMO neither are bad flag designs.
And the “rules” are only guidelines - as I’ve pointed out in these threads before, Japanese prefecture and municipality flags break rule 3 all the time, and are awesome for it.
I love the Brecknockshire one! But I like bats.
ETA: mrflag.com has the county flags in many sizes for sale.
Which is NOT a good thing, because it’s boring. Just the State Seal, and not a creative one. It’s the classic “ten pounds in a five pound bag”: you got your basic miner hanging out with a sailor (waiting their turn for the Village People audition), and suddenly, whoa, there’s a badger… clearly coming between them, and they are not happy.
I won’t take up your time with the Golden Seal of Misc. Trades, some latin and lead ingots and a cornucopia and a US Flag Shield (so there’s a tiny flag in the middle of our flag)…
One article from Wis. Public Radio asked: The Sgt. Pepper’s Of State Flags?
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Now, Madison, WI has a simple flag. The capitol’s in the middle of an isthmus, so…
They’re not supposed to fly the state flag outside of state buildings because it’s boring? That’s a compelling argument, not.
As a graphic designer, hell yeah.
I’d love to hear the Governor say "The state flag will be replaced by a succession of more interesting flags. For the next year, the State Capitol will be flying the winning entry from each of the state’s middle schools… "
And actually, I think he did replace Wisconsin’s flag with the Pride flag for the month of June. I biked past a state office building and they had the US flag and then the Rainbow Flag (though they still could’ve had a state flag somewhere else…).
The Maryland flag is an example of good heraldry, but good heraldry is not always the same thing as good vexillology (though of course, there’s some overlap).
Anyone who’s criticizing the Ohio state flag for its shape needs to take a closer look at the flags of Colorado and Wyoming. Both of them have flags shaped like the outline of their state; how crass is that?
And yeah, @digs , that flag of Madison, WI is a good one by any measure. I suppose that one might quibble that four colors is too many, but that’s a very minor issue, especially for a city flag.
One of my favorite state flag trivia questions is “Which two state flags have bears on them?” Nearly everyone guesses California correctly, but many people can’t get the second one, even after multiple guesses.
Missouri
When I first saw the thumbnail I thought they were gophers.
Yeah, I’m not real concerned about how exciting my states flag is. It still should be flown at state buildings and such.
Well, thanks to this thread I laid in bed last night redesigning our state flag. The problem being, no matter how cool a new one was, it’d be a hard sell with the public (many of whom would just want the same flag they grew up with).
So I moved on to the US flag…
I mean, come ON, it’s totally out of balance with that blue rectangle, and can you get any busier than cramming 50 stars up there? And those primary colors! I mean, would you walk into a classy party wearing red and white striped pants with a bright blue shirt (with white paint splattered on it)?
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(Any more attacks on democracy, and I think we should go with plain white…)
The best part of that article was the subtitle: A Miner, A Sailor And A Badger Walk Into A Blue Field.
Wisconsin’s flag is ridiculously clutterered. A new one is desperately needed. I suggest a badger and Forward. Nothing else is needed.
Well, a badger holding a beer…