As a comment on another diary points out, seven Southern states (South Carolina, curiously, not among them) fly state flags that incorporate allusions to the Confederacy in their designs (including one outright use of the Dixie Swastika, a.k.a. the Confederate battle flag, in Mississippi's). "Maybe these other states ought to being looking for a new design," HappyinNM suggests.
Great idea! And if they're going to do that, they can strike a blow not only against racism and white nationalism but also against bad flag design.
Because let's face it: Our state flags, by and large, are godawful.
Not all of them, mind you. Actually, South Carolina's palmetto flag is one of the best, according to a survey conducted by the North American Vexillological Association.
What makes a flag good? According to NAVA's pamphlet "Good Flag, Bad Flag," good flags share the following traits:
1. They're simple.
2. They contain meaningful symbolism.
3. They employ just two or three basic colors.
4. They include no lettering or seals.
5. They're distinctive -- or, if they bear a similarity to another flag, the similarity emphasizes the relationship between the two entities that the flags represent.
South Carolina's flag has two colors (navy blue and white) and two symbols (the crescent moon and the palmetto tree). A child could draw it from memory. It can be identified at a distance. It's a beautiful flag.
To be frank, the Dixie Swastika, notwithstanding the hate, cruelty and injustice it represents, is also a good flag solely from a design standpoint. (For that matter, so was the swastika of the Third Reich.) So if, say, Mississippi were to redesign its state flag to remove that symbol -- and it should be removed -- it would be a terrible disappointment if it were replaced with a hot mess like the flag of Nebraska:
This flag makes just about every mistake it's possible to make. It's so complicated, you can barely make out what it's supposed to be a picture of. Any meaningful symbolism in it is impossible to tease out. It contains lettering (which has to be sewn on a flag twice, since it can't be reversed)
and the state seal. And it's indistinguishable at a distance from no fewer than 15
other state flags.
In contrast, here are some of the best state flags from elsewhere in the nation:
New Mexico
Texas
Alaska
Looking at the seven flags cited by the Washington Post:
Alabama
Adequate, though too similar to Florida's -- but Alabama adopted its flag first, and Florida's contains the state seal, so if either state should be the first to change its flag, it's Florida. It also evokes the Dixie Swastika in its shape. Southern states with connections to the Confederacy would be wise to steer clear of the St. Andrew's cross altogether. Unfortunately, and rather dully, Alabama has managed not to adopt any distinctive state symbol that
doesn't link it back to the Confederacy. I'd say the higher priority for Alabama should be to do something about
its state coat of arms.
Arkansas
It's dull, and the lettering's got to go. However, there is one bit of hidden cleverness in it: Arkansas is the "Diamond State," and the diamond shape in the flag alludes to that nickname. The connection to the Confederacy is embedded not only in the white stars in blue bars but also in the blue star above the word "Arkansas," which alludes to the state's membership in the CSA (the three below stand for France, Spain and the United States -- yes, the Confederacy gets pride of place ahead of all those three). My recommendation: Lose the blue border, the lettering and the fourth star, and make the flag either three blue stars in a white diamond against a red field, or three white stars in a blue diamond against a white field (with no red).
Florida
Florida just copied Alabama's design and then screwed it up. The state is
named after flowers. Why not a stylized image of the state flower, the orange blossom? Or a shining sun, since it's the Sunshine State? Or maybe just a field of solid turquoise, since the whole state's going to be underwater in a hundred years anyway.
Georgia
The 2001 NAVA survey voted Georgia's flag -- which it had
just adopted, replacing an even more explicitly Confederate predecessor -- the worst in the United States
and Canada. Whether because of that survey or to eliminate the Dixie Swastika that was part of that flag, Georgia has already replaced it once. The current flag is an improvement, though still not great -- I doubt many schoolkids can draw that gold whatever-it-is. Georgia is on probation, for now.
Mississippi
Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope. A blind ref could call that foul. This flag needs to go, and it needs to go now. In fact, just to drive the point home, Mississippi shouldn't even get to use red
or blue in its new flag. Stylized magnolia blossom, white on green. Only way to go. (Holy heck --
it's already been suggested . . . and
executed!)
North Carolina
North Carolina has had this weak-ass flag since 1885, not long after the end of Reconstruction. It can do better. How about a pine tree? Or take all that junk in the
hoist and replace it with a few chevrons, to represent Appalachia.
Tennessee
Tennessee's flag is decent, better than average as state flags go. It's simple, three colors, no lettering, distinctive. Is it symbolically meaningful? Well . . . the WaPo, citing analysis by the vexillologist Steven A. Knowlton, concludes that one nonvisual virtue of the flag is its "plausible deniability": there are elements that allude to a former Confederate flag, such as the blue vertical bar on the
fly, but you have to know your history to spot them. Personally, I think this is a good-looking flag that shouldn't be tampered with too much. Ditch the blue bar on the fly and call it a day.