Arizona and Vexillology

February 14th is right around the corner!

Do you know what that means? That's right! Arizona Statehood Day!

On February 14th, 1912 Arizona joined the union, the 48th state.
(A bit tardy, but better late than never.
Compare:
Iowa, December 28, 1846
California, September 9, 1850
Minnesota, May 11, 1858
Colorado, August 1, 1876)


In honor of the 48th state's birthday, at dinner I asked Alissa if -- in five seconds or less -- she could name the colors of Arizona's flag. (She did admirably, a loyal Arizonan even now.) But it got me thinking: "Why couldn't other state flags be more like Arizona's?"

I'm sure none of you lie awake bothered by this thought. You may have never given it a thought. But I have long-held that our fifty state flags are not created equal. And while the following is painfully subjective, I think that in the reading you too may start forming an opinion as to what makes a good flag. State-loyalty plays little part in my observations, however, as the three last states I have lived in all bear flags with some noticeable flaws (Colorado, Iowa, and Minnesota).

When I consider our fifty states' flags, the vast majority fall into one or more of the following categories:


The "State Seal Dud"
Fully twenty-five of our fifty states' flags fall into this reprehensible category. I know the folks of these good states are well-meaning, but they certainly could have given more thought to their vexillogical issues. Instead, they simply slapped their respective state's seal onto a single color (blue in 22 cases). (Missouri, West Virginia, and Delaware narrowly escaped this fate by easing one or two additional colors underneath their state seal.)




In fact, the "State Seal Dud" style is so common and uninteresting, that, after posting the above three examples, I couldn't even remember what states they were. (After checking: they belong to Vermont, Nebraska and Minnesota.) I'm sure that many a newcomer to a "State Seal Dud" state gazes excitedly up at the flag just to find himself squinting at the minute lettering (too often in Latin)and wondering what those tiny pictures could possibly represent. State seals are great, but please, put them on your official letterhead, not your flags.

The "Knock-Off"
While this second category frequently holds flags that are more interesting (and legible!) to look at than those above, the flag-designers in these states have committed other slight vexollilogical sins: lack of creativity and plagiarism (Scandinavia, anyone?).

In Hawaii's flag (above), it is immediately clear that the flag-designers simply smashed together the flag designs of its two colonizers: U.K and U.S. Historically relevant? Yes. Creative? No.

The cross (St. Andrew's in these cases, or "saltire") is probably the oldest governmental flag in European culture, so Alabama and Florida cannot be faulted for both employing this ancient emblem. But for pete's sake, these two flags (of neighboring states no less!) are almost identical! Florida making the silly move of "improving" upon the saltire by slapping their state seal upon it, just in case we wanted to try and read their motto from 30 feet below.

Now, while Alabama has been using this particular red saltire since 1896 and Florida only since 1901, Florida actually has the historic claim to this design, the red saltire being the Spanish colonial flag used in Florida, while Alabama only adopted it after stratching their previous flag bearing a cotton plant (what else?).

Also take a look at Iowa's flag (suspiciously similar to the French tri-colour), and compare the flags of North Carolina and Texas.

The "Indecisive"
The flag in this category (Oregon's) bears different images on the obverse and reverse.


While some flag-makers of the above two categories clearly didn't have enough ideas, the poor souls in this group had too many. I wonder if some new-comer, emerging from a building in Oregon, hasn't suddenly thought, "What? Is this facility also used by the local Beavers' Club?"

The "School Art Project"

The flags in this category cannot be faulted for illegibilty, plainness, or unoriginality. These flags consist of bold lines, large letters, brought together in a manner strikingly simple. Too simple. Almost as though a school-child had been asked to design the official emblem of a sub-national governmental entity.

The first flag above, Colorado's, gets points for being so easily recognizable, but the giant "C" is a tad overbold. The second, Alaska's, actually was designed by a school-child, so I can't fault them too much.

The "Neat-O"
Well, my lunch-break is over, so, in closing, here are the state flags that I can enjoy watching as they flap in the breeze.

New Mexico: Simple, recognizable, elegant, and representing its unique cultural heritage.


Wyoming: Striking, bearing the national colors, and representing its western culture. (Could do without the seal, though.)


South Carolina: Historic (originating in the Revolution), symbolic of both the fight for freedom and South Carolina's unique flora (the palmetto tree).


Arizona: Strikingly depicts the sort of sunset seen rarely outside of the Arizona, emblazoned with a copper star representing the state (and its history of copper mining). Maybe I like this flag because when we lived in Prescott, Arizona I thought I could grow up to be a copper miner, complete with funny hat and scruffy beard. Do any of you remember the "copper mine" / cave nearby that we would go and crawl through?