illwauk's State Flags

[illwauk]

So I decided to spin my Georgia Flag thread into a series. Due to that thread branching off into other discussions about the controversy over Georgia's flag, I decided to start a new one where I can post my ideas for the handful of other states I have in mind. No idea where this will go after that since I'm currently working on two other design projects and have school coming up in the fall. Anyway, without further shenanigans...

Minnesota

Known as the "North Star State," the star on the flag represents (wait for it.....) Polaris, otherwise known as the North Star. The star has a total of 32 points symbolizing Minnesota's order in joining the union. My first choice for the color of the star was yellow, but that reminded me too much of Alaska's flag which also features the North Star (IMO, Alaska's flag would work even better as Minnesota's, but I digress). Then I tried white, but that reminded me too much of South Carolina. Then I tried maroon & gold due to the University of Minnesota, but decided I'd rather have the background represent the sky as Minnesota's name is derived from a Dakota word meaning "sky-tinted waters." That's when the idea for the double-blue struck and ultimately made my decision.

[sc49erfan15]

It's a good concept, but the blue field is making it seem too much like your Georgia concept to me. And the fact that it's centered...it reminds me of a cross between New Mexico and South Carolina. Not that those are two bad flags to resemble, but...

I'd say maybe putting the star in the canton, and have another design element? I'm thinking something similar to the Marshall Islands:

Not necessarily stripes, but...something. Maybe some lake imagery? Apparently there's, like, 10,000 of them or something.

[bigbean24]

Being from Minnesota I must say that it is ok. I like that its simple.

[Epiphanic]

I agree with sc49erfan, it seems a little bare. It is better than Minnesota's current flag, but that's pretty much by default. This is my favorite alternative Minnesota flag that I've seen.

[CAB]

I definitely like the star, but I'll agree with others that it does seem a little bear. Which I don't think is necessarily a bad thing. I think you could keep it as is and be just fine. However, if you do decide to add stripes, I think something like this that Mockba posted in that other flag thread would look really cool. You could put your North Star in the canton. I'm excited to see some more of these, I hope you don't mind if I post some flag ideas of mine as well? In a new thread of course.

[raysox]

I"m insanely jealous I didn't think of this series before you. Maybe just "Minnesota" on there will do the trick.

[-kj]

I"m insanely jealous I didn't think of this series before you. Maybe just "Minnesota" on there will do the trick.

I don't know if illwauk agrees, but I say no nononononononononono no. I very much dislike text on flags.

[sc49erfan15]

I"m insanely jealous I didn't think of this series before you. Maybe just "Minnesota" on there will do the trick.

I don't know if illwauk agrees, but I say no nononononononononono no. I very much dislike text on flags.

Agreed - off the top of my head, I can only think of a few instances where text on a flag works.

[IceCap]

Hmmm, I like it. It goes without saying that it beats the current flag. In fact I would say it beats out the proposed Minnesota flag. Your design effectively utilizes only two colours, which is always a plus, and the star insignia is awesome.

[tBBP]

Whatcha gon' do for Florida, homeboy???

[winghaz]

I request a North Dakota state flag concept.

[IceCap]

North Dakota: the new Raiders?

[illwauk]

Whatcha gon' do for Florida, homeboy???

Hmm... not sure about that yet. My plan is to knock out all the states that use a seal-on-blue flag first. Funny you should ask though because it made me look up Florida's flag and it's essentially Alabama's flag with the Florida seal superimposed over it... seems like that would make a perfect civic flag for Pensacola

[AHcreative]

I was actually thinking the other day that this would be a neat idea, except I was thinking on the level of countries. I thought to myself that I should research every country and its history and do some flag concepts based on that. But that would take forever. It would be fun though.

I actually really like what you've done for Minnesota. It's simple, but it works very well.

[illwauk]

After a few days of tweaking, here's my revision to Minnesota.

The biggest change I made is to the shape of the flag. Nearly all of the Scandinavian countries have "alternate" versions of their flag that follow this pattern, so I thought it would be appropriate for Minnesota to use it as well. I kept the 32-point north star, but moved it to the canton. I also added two streams at the bottom to symbolize the Mississippi River and the 10,000 lakes, respectively. The three sections the flag is now divided in now represent the state itself. The "twin" bottom sections represent the Twin Cities and the larger top section represents "outstate" Minnesota which roughly coincides with the shape of the state, particularly the "Arrowhead" region in the Northeast.

And winghaz, I think I am gonna do North Dakota next.

[tBBP]

Whatcha gon' do for Florida, homeboy???

Hmm... not sure about that yet. My plan is to knock out all the states that use a seal-on-blue flag first. Funny you should ask though because it made me look up Florida's flag and it's essentially Alabama's flag with the Florida seal superimposed over it... seems like that would make a perfect civic flag for Pensacola

What, L.A.? (That's what we call Pensacola back home..."L.A", for "Lower Alabama".)

In any case, you're going to need four more flags.

[ESTONES6]

Am I missing the 32 points?

[Epiphanic]

Using the swallow tail shape makes this concept awesome.

[raysox]

It's also shaped like Minnesota! Nice going, man.

[illwauk]

Thanks for the props, guys!

ESTONE6, you have to count the points at each individual "layer."