American State Flag Redesigns are BORING (But We Can Do Better)

I think you have a “centered horizontal stripes and a circle” motif replacing the SOAB

Lots of "circle in the center with bars on the sides" in this one, huh? :^)

West Virginia's redesign looks like a flag that you'd see flown by a kingdom of Dwarves

Critique of New York, it only focuses on the city when the vast majority of the state is upstate.

12:35 I hate to "um, actually" an April Fool's video, but the central design on the Oklahoma flag is actually an Osage war shield.

Hopefully this video doesn’t get “flagged” for its content. ;) Jokes aside, April Fools Cardinal. Everyone.

13:54 I hate to "um, actually" an April Fool's video, but the Charter Oak of Connecticut was an individual tree, not the species. (I use the past tense because it fell in 1856.) The Charter Oak was a specimen of white oak.

I think it's fitting for local flags to be more detailed and specific while the flags of countries are much more simple and broad.

This was a fun April Fool's video! I got a kick out of it.

8:53 I hate to "um, actually" an April Fool's video, but the reason for that activity in South Carolina is because there is actually no design standard (in more ways than one) for the state flag. All use the crescent in the canton, the palmetto, & dark blue field, but each flag manufacturer has a slightly different proprietary design. (For example, they use different shades of blue, different crescent shapes, and different palmetto designs.) The recent activity has been to try & standardize the flag design.

13:00 i was very surprised to hear modern baseball in your video.

I like animals on flags, but i strongly disagree with the idea they need to abstracted or simplified right out of the gate. The great thing about detail is it's easy to remove in situations you don't want it but hard to add; so you might as well include "detailed" drawings on the official flags and only resort fo the abstract versions when necessary (e.g. the welsh flag has a very detailed dragon, but also is easily simplified when they want to stick it on merchandise) The only important rule imo is "is it embraced in a transformative way by the public - do they stick it on cakes, tattoos, tourist merch etc.?

best re-design: Vermont; honorable mentions: Missouri, Kansas; worst re-design: New York. but as an upstater maybe i am biased. i don't like the 100% removal of any detail in the flags. the detail on the bear in California for example, or the landscapes of the seals .. they add a lot of personality! but i truly have never thought about flag design before so thanks for another thought provoking video.

I laughed at "armchair artist". Isn't that what all reviewers and critics are, in a way?

On the OK flag, it’s not a dream catcher. It’s an Osage shield with 7 eagle feathers. And removing the olive branch and peace pipe removes the symbolism of the peace between the European and Indian nations that now live there together. Also (less importantly) the little crosses on the shield are actually stars. The original flag had a star but Okies thought it looked too socialist.

Smh, did Ohio dirty. I love non rectangle flag shapes imo. Funn video, thanks

As a fellow Virginian I'm kind of split on the redesign, I like the flag itself and the parts thereof, but it kind of removes the fighting tyranny part of the flag that I like. Also it might be a bit unfair but the cardinal looks a bit too close to your own cardinal to me and in that context it feels a bit wrong if that makes sense. For the other states my favorite redesign just on looks for me is either West Virginia or Indiana, and I'm sorry but the Ohio white space filler flag is absolutely the worst one to me, I personally really like unconventional flag shapes and I don't think it needs changes at all. As another note I think the Wyoming flag didn't really need changes to the border, just remove the seal and it's pretty much perfect.

Finally someone who has a similar Vexillogical opinion as me. although you definately have a stronger bias to horizontal stripes than me lol.

13:23 I hate to "um, actually" an April Fool's video, but the inclusion to the pine tree is a reference to the number of historical "Pine Tree Flags" as enduring symbols for Massachusetts & New England since the colonial period. (The pine design used by u/Smiix is the design used on the state's naval ensign.)

The ship on NH flag is one they built. The current flag includes the official state seal centered onto a blue background, surrounded with a wreath of laurel with nine stars interspersed, in honor of New Hampshire becoming the ninth state. That seal depicts the frigate USS Raleigh, one of the original warships of the U.S. Navy, which was built locally in 1776.