Mississippi is about to select a new State flag. My first formal engineering job was in Mississippi, so I am emotionally invested in this decision. One flag nominated as a replacement is commonly referred to as the @HospitalityFlag. I have thoughts. A brief flag thread 🧵
The North American Vexillological Association has a publication called “Good Flag, Bad Flag”. https://t.co/GPEmPYMz5I It lists 5 simple rules 1. Keep It Simple 2. Use Meaningful Symbolism. 3. Use 2 or 3 Basic Colors. 4. No Lettering or Seals. 5. Be Distinctive or Be Related. 🧵
nava.org/good-flag-bad-…
When it comes to Rule #1 "Keep it Simple", no State does it better than my Sweet Home Alabama. In kindergarten I could draw our flag in 10 seconds with one crayon. My heart has always felt pity for the children of Maryland (due to the complexity of their flag) 🧵(3 of ?)
You know what? Let's do this. Right now. Go get crayons and draw your state flag from memory. Reply to this tweet with your masterpiece. We're all adults here, SURELY we can all draw our state flag from memory. Just use typing paper. I'll go first. 🧵(3 of ?)
That took me 35 seconds (I had to find a red crayon) 🖍 I mainly want to see if you know your State flag by heart. 🧵 (I think this is tweet 5 actually)
Sorry it took me so long since the last tweet I was busy trying to COPY Maryland’s flag. I learned checker spacing is key. Note: I’ve taken 6 semester hours of drafting classes as an engineer and still made a significant mistake. I tried hard. It was very difficult. 🧵 6 of?
Yeah... so I propose that a good measure for Rule #1 "Keep is Simple" is the Crayon Test. If you cannot draw it from memory with crayons in 5 minutes, then it doesn't qualify as "simple". Let's move on to Rule 2 🧵 7 of ?
Rule 2 - Use Meaningful Symbolism. When I look at all the US State flags. There are several stand outs when it comes to symbols. Before researching anything, these States flags had symbols that stood out the most to me, even as an outsider. 🧵 8 of ?
Some symbols are intuitive. Texas: Lone Star State. Arkansas: Originally one of the only places in the US to find diamonds. Diamond on flag Others are cryptic. South Carolina: The Palmetto Tree and the thing that looks like a moon (it isn't) California: Bear? 🧵 9 of ?
10 yrs ago I was in Nashville, TN. I thought the flag flying over the Capital building was pretty walked up and asked the first person that walked out: "What do the three stars on the flag symbolize?" Instant reply: "The three parts of the State. East, Central and West" 🧵 10
