The Vexillological Thread (Flags)

[webdav]

Over in the License Plate thread, I mentioned flag redesigns, and I didn't want to go off topic too much, so here it is, the Vexillological Thread!

Of the 50 state flags in the US, over 20 of them are essentially identical, a state seal (which has too much detail to be recognizable from a distance) on a field of color. Most of those fields are blue, save that of Washington.

Honestly, from a distance, can anyone tell the difference between my home state of Montana's flag and that of Nebraska, Idaho, Kansas, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Michigan, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota or Vermont?

Not really. Blue with a seal on it.

There are states with truly great and unique flags. One can easily rally behind the flags of Texas, Tennessee, New Mexico, Arizona, South Carolina, Colorado and Arizona and Alaska. They are bold, unique, full of symbolism. (My favorite is Alaska, but I'm biased. New Mexico is another great one.)

Ohio is the only non-rectangular flag. So it's unique and distinct. Maryland's flag is complex, but totally unique and recognizable.

Oregon fits with the seal-on-a-bedsheet crowd except for one unique feature, it's double sided. And the blue field with a gold beaver is pretty awesome.

Indiana is predominantly blue and gold, but the torch/stars combo is pretty distinct.

Rhode Island's flag is square, so that's unusual and it's been around since 1640, so there's something to say for that!

Other flags can't seem to rid themselves of history - Hawaii having a Union Jack as part of it's flag is odd. Mississippi has a corner dedicated to the flag of the Confederacy. Subtle!

Some flags are great, but could use minor tweaks to make them even better. Arkansas, for example, doesn't need the actual word "Arkansas" on it. Wyoming could ditch the seal entirely and just use the bison on blue with red border.

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The Montana state flag has roots in the Spanish-American War, as it was taken into battle by the Montanans serving in that conflict. The blue was lighter, then, but the seal was essentially the same, depicting mountains, the Great Falls of the Missouri River, a plow to represent agriculture and a shovel/pick to represent mining, and a banner with the motto "Oro y Plata" (gold and silver in Spanish - for a state that was never native Spanish speaking, our slogan and state name are both Spanish. Odd.)

I think a flag should be similar to a logo, bold, unique, easy to remember. In a way, it's a logo for a state. So let's do a little brand analysis for Montana. What are we known for?

* Big Sky

* Mountains

* Agriculture

* Mining

* Outdoor activities (skiing, fishing, hunting.)

When we went through a similar thought process for our state quarter, we ended up with mountains and the bison skull. I have heard people respond negatively, saying it was odd we'd represent our state with a symbol of death. However, that's not what the bison skull is. In Native American culture, the bison is a very strong symbol - it represents prosperity, strong, independence and freedom. And the skull represents sacrifice and the responsibility to be a good steward. The Native Americans hunted bison, but they did so responsibly, they used every bit of the beast out of respect to it. The skull represents that respect of the sacrifice the animal made to them.

That's why I've come to think of the bison skull as a very good symbol for the state. It represents the good things in Montanans. We're taught to be responsible stewards of the wonderful natural resources we have. We're independent, strong, and roam free.

Our current flag is require by law to have a blue field (the blue is not defined, but is often navy), with the state seal and gold fringe on the top and the bottom.

I've gone through tons of ideas for years thinking about the flag. And I'm honestly not sure I've come up with a solution worth posting. I've had variations of the letter "M" formed by mountains. I've had gold and silver, I've had lakes, rivers, mountains, snow, all kinds of things. Eventually, I boiled it down to one thing, and I think I like it. (Although I may not like it tomorrow.)

I retained the gold fringe on the top and bottom and used a color known as "Big Sky Blue" that was used by the Great Northern Railroad. My bison skull reflects the shape of the western side of the state, and the "V" shape kind of creates a valley.

What do you guys think? A worthy change? A waste of time?

[1clkgtramg]

Put that skull on my proposal, swich the black to the gray, and you have a winner

So I'm assuming like you said, the gold part is just a fringe and isnt necessarilly part of the digital flag, or is there still a gold bar on each side? And what do they represent?

[webdav]

Put that skull on my proposal, swich the black to the gray, and you have a winner

So I'm assuming like you said, the gold part is just a fringe and isnt necessarilly part of the digital flag, or is there still a gold bar on each side? And what do they represent?

Gold fringe on top/bottom is part of the current flag specification, I carried it over in the form of gold stripes that are 10% of the total height of the flag. I felt it needed something other than simply blue and the thinner strips would look cool when the flag just hangs. They don't necessarily represent anything specific. I thought of making one silver the other gold (Oro y Plata) but it looked ugly.

[1clkgtramg]

I never knew about these restriction and its a real shame because that is most likely what is holding these designs back. You should make one design usibg regulations and then make one free of limitations (like I did with the license plates).

I do like what you have done but the gold doesnt quite seem to work with that shade of blue though.

[webdav]

I never knew about these restriction and its a real shame because that is most likely what is holding these designs back. You should make one design usibg regulations and then make one free of limitations (like I did with the license plates).

I do like what you have done but the gold doesnt quite seem to work with that shade of blue though.

Current state law for Montana defines the state flag in pretty minute detail: Blue field (not specified, but usually dark), with the Great Seal in the center, with gold fringe on top and bottom (this is often left off), and the word MONTANA in all caps Helvetica Bold above the seal in gold (yellow, really.)

It's pretty restrictive, so designing within the rules wouldn't really produce anything unique.

I agree that shade isn't quite right. I'll tweak it a bit. I was also trying to avoid it looking like it favored Montana State, whose colors are blue and gold. So the blue shade is different, and the gold is as well.

[Naoned Pride]

Being a vexillophile (I usually buy a regional or city flag of where I settle for vacation or anything, I only have 6 at the moment though, but I'm young, I'll travel !), I'll follow this thread.

I've came up with these thoughts aswell when looking up states flag for my us soccer concepts threads, lots of them are really generic and boring. Is this thread open or is it a concept thread ? Because I have some work of my own on US Flags I'd like to share.

[1clkgtramg]

I too was wondering the same, can we post our own material to feed off of eachother? I have a few flags myself, 10, and was wanting to post a few designs.

[webdav]

I too was wondering the same, can we post our own material to feed off of eachother? I have a few flags myself, 10, and was wanting to post a few designs.

Feel free to post away!

[1clkgtramg]

I have these 2 flags that I've had sitting here for a while. The Oklahoma one needs work, but I think the New Zealand one is pretty solid since they seem to want to have a simple Fern look to it, this way it stays away from being All-Black Rugby related and more traditional.
The OK flag is a 2-tone variant of the current flag with the modern Wordmark. I have noticed that there is no consistent OK flag. Some are different tones of blue, some shields are different looks and the fonts change. It still needs work though.

[Naoned Pride]

I had made a Hawaii flag, since their current one is strangely the same as britain colonnies'.

[1clkgtramg]

I had made a Hawaii flag, since their current one is strangely the same as britain colonnies'.

I can get behind that. It just needs blue and then its good. Also, I think a Sida flower would be a better choice for the top left. What is that anyway?

[Naoned Pride]

It's a flower that is present on the hawaian natives flag.

[BigRed618]

The Montana concept might be my favorite so far. I also made an attempt at redesigning the States' flags... http://boards.sportslogos.net/topic/95795-state-flag-concepts-pa-nj-vi-added-project-complete/ Take a look if you want. It may help you with ideas.