Let’s Make State Flags Actually Good
America’s states have a flag problem. Our 50 incredibly diverse states, with unique histories spanning over centuries and a whole continent, have almost all tied themselves to ugly, non-distinct flags. In this article, I will briefly outline the problems with our current state flags and then offer 50 designs to replace them.
Seals on Bedsheets: Our Horrible State Flags
Most people with an interest in flags are already familiar with the problem of state flags. The North American Vexillological Association (NAVA), an organization of flag experts, famously described most of them as nothing more than a “seal on a bedsheet.” NAVA publishes guidelines for good flag design, and almost all state flags break multiple.
The job of a flag is to represent a group of people. State flags fail at this because so many of them are functionally identical, leaving them unable to express each state’s unique identity.
For example, here are four current state flags. For two of them, I have removed the state’s name (which many flags scrawl across their flags in big letters). Unless you happen to live in one of these states, you probably couldn’t name any of the states represented here. Instead of a visual representation of their identity, these states have all chosen boring seal-on-a-bedsheet designs.
Going from top-left to bottom-right, we have Montana, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and New York. These states, with different cultures in different regions of the country, are all reduced to virtually identical symbols. If you have to label your flag with the state’s name for people to recognize it, you have failed at flag design.
Another problem with our state flags is that their designs are simply ugly. Many of them feature crudely drawn, cartoon-style images on their seals. Others jam so many details into a small space to make the resulting design unclear and unattractive. The overall messiness of state flags is a case study in why seals, text, and excessive detail are usually avoided by good flag design.
The Ted Talk below articulates these flag design principles further, illustrating them with US city flags.
Finally, many state flags celebrate dark, harmful parts of America’s history. The history of this country is full of symbols that should be remembered in a somber, introspective way, not honored and celebrated. Our flags designs make explicit choices about what symbols we want to represent us. The Confederate States of America, a political project based on preserving slavery, should not be something Americans choose to identify with. Neither should derogatory depictions of indigenous people, which can also be found on several state flags.
With those flaws in mind, I set out to redesign all of America’s state flags.
Principles
Before listing my redesign proposals, I should explain a few rules that guided my design choices.
- Be distinct. Each state has a unique history, culture, and identity, and their flags should represent this. This means no seals on bedsheets. It also means avoiding the strategy of some designers who seek to homogenize the state flags as a legitimate design choice. I don’t believe you can do that without erasing many states’ identities. With that said, there is not a problem with some, well-executed patterns across flags, such as the Nordic cross or Pan-African colors used on some national flags. My designs do use some national or regional patterns, such as statehood stars and the color buff representing the American Revolution.
- Use good-looking designs. While representing unique identities, we might as well also have designs that look good enough for people to take pride in. In my designs, I have sought to adhere to good design principles, such as the NAVA guidelines. I was wary of text, excessive detail, and overly realistic illustrations.
- Use established state symbols. In order for people to identify with a flag, its design needs a real connection to their history or culture. For these designs, I tried to incorporate symbols from current and former flags, state seals, and the well-known lore within each place.
- No Confederate symbolism. Some state flags based on Confederate symbols are aesthetically pleasing if removed from their historical context. They fit within good flag design. However, as I explained above, flags are tools for celebration and identity creation. I intend to remove all Confederate symbolism from state flags, even if they were otherwise good-looking.
I also took inspiration from many previous designers. I have tried my best to credit other people when appropriate.
The Flags
Alabama
We start with a flag that has an ambiguous pro-Confederacy background. According to some official state sources, the red cross of the current Alabama flag was intended to reference the Confederate battle flag or the flag of Confederate Alabama’s 60th Infantry Regiment. On the other hand, some see Alabama’s current flag as a reference to the flag of Burgundy Spain, which governed Alabama as part of its Florida colony.
My design removes this ambiguity by changing Alabama’s cross into a distinctly Burgundy Spanish cross, referencing Alabama’s early colonial history. The design shares a clear connection to Alabama’s current flag so as to hopefully inherit the same sense of popular connection enjoyed by the current flag. The design is also bold and memorable.
Alaska
Here is the first of a few designs that I did not change. Alaska’s flag is well designed and elegantly symbolizes the important role of Alaska’s northern geography to its cultural identity.
Arizona
Arizona has another well-designed flag with solid symbolism. My only change was to add a white outline around the copper-colored star. Otherwise, orange overlayed on red and yellow can be a rough color combination. In heraldry, this design principle is called the rule of tincture.
Arkansas
Arkansas’ current flag is another with unfortunate Confederate symbolism. However, aside from its Confederate connection, the other symbolism and aesthetics of the Arkansas flag are pretty good. To preserve them while removing the Confederate ethos, I changed the red field to white, hoping that this is a clean enough break form the old battle flag. To preserve the American red, white, and blue, I added a red border.
The diamond symbolizes Arkansas’ identity as the only US state to produce diamonds. The 25 stars around the diamond represents Arkansas’ admission as the 25th state of the union. The single star in the middle represents unity among all states, as opposed to the four stars of the current flag, which explicitly elevate Arkansas’ Confederate history over other time periods.
California
Even though this flag breaks “rules” by having text and a realistic illustration, it is simply too charismatic to change. Because people currently identify so strongly with this design, it should not be changed.
Colorado
Another great-looking flag full of meaning — no change.
Connecticut
The purple stripe represents grapes, a longtime symbol of the Connecticut taken from the current flag.
The brown stripe represents the Charter Oak, another symbol of the state. When the British monarchy attempted to remove the colonial charter of Connecticut to alter its government, the colonists stole the charter and hid it in a large oak to make sure the British governor couldn’t remove it. It is now a symbol of America’s revolutionary tradition. The white stripe represents that colonial charter.
The star represents Connecticut’s statehood, evoking the statehood stars on the US flag. The color black represents the determination of the people of Connecticut.
Delaware
Like Delaware’s current flag, this design uses the colors buff and blue in reference to the uniform of George Washington. This design uses a darker blue to contrast with the buff, and to more closely resemble famous portraits of Washington.
Instead of the state seal, this design uses a prominent single star to represent Delaware’s status as the first state in the union.
Like the current flag, this design features a diamond to reference Delaware’s nickname as the “Diamond State.”
Florida
This design is heavily based on design posted on Reddit’s flag forum. It takes the current flag and modifies the red saltire to resemble the Spanish Burgundy cross in reference to Florida’s colonial past. In the place of the state seal, it features a sun to reference Florida’s nickname as the “Sunshine State.”
On top of that design, I added a central star to symbolize Florida’s statehood, evoking the statehood stars on the US flag.
Georgia
This flag simply replaces the canton illustration of the current flag with a simplified, stylized version of the same illustration, preserving the symbolism. To remove the Confederate association of the three-striped “Stars and Bars,” this design features four horizontal stripes to represent Georgia’s place as the fourth state admitted to the union.
Hawaii
The current flag of Hawaii is the flag of the Kindgom of Hawaii, an independent country that was overthrown to bring Hawaii into the United States. Because of this history, I was reluctant to change anything about the flag. This is why it is the only design here with a 2:1 ratio, as opposed to all the other 3:2 flags.
The only change I made was to switch the symbol in the canton. Although I know that King Kamehameha I placed the British flag on his canton to symbolize friendship with Britain, I felt that the same pattern’s association with British colonial rule was too strong to include. As a matter of fact, Hawaii was never a British colony, and no one has intended or currently intends for Hawaii’s flag to convey that message.
To preserve the Kingdom of Hawaii symbolism, the new canton symbol is taken from the crest of the House of Kamehameha. It is also used extensively as a symbol of the native Hawaiian people.
Idaho
The green triangles represent Idaho’s mountains, and the blue represents the skies over Idaho. The red star represents star garnet, the state’s famous gem, as well as Idaho’s nickname as the “Gem State.”
Illinois
The green stripe represents the forests in the southern part of the state. The gold stripe represents the agricultural fields throughout the heart of the state. And the blue stripe represents Lake Michigan at the north end of the state.
The 13 stars in a ring represent the 13th amendment to the US constitution, which abolished slavery. Illinois was the first state to ratify the 13th amendment, and it is known as the “Land of Lincoln,” after the president who led to the amendment’s passage.
The central star represents Illinois’ statehood, evoking the statehood stars on the US flag.
Indiana
Indiana has a good flag to start with. I simply removed the text with the state’s name.
Iowa
Iowa’s current flag has a relatively unique design among US state flags. The vertical stripes, as well as their proportions, are rare. I preserved those unique elements in this design. In place of the current complicated, realistic illustration, I placed a star representing Iowa’s statehood.
Kansas
This design repurposes elements from the current flag of Kansas. The light blue represents the clear skies above the plains of Kansas. The golden star represents a sunflower, a symbol of Kansas. The 34 stars around the border represent Kansas’s admission as the 34th US state.
On their own, the color gold represents Kansas’s agriculture, and the color black represents Kansas’s difficult history as the starting place of the Civil War.
Kentucky
his designed is based on a post in Reddit’s flag forum, although I cleaned up the illustration and expanded the symbolism.
The whole design is taken from the family crest of Daniel Boone, the famous American explorer, who played a prominent role in settling the state on behalf of America. The 15 points across the 3 stars also represent Kentucky’s admission as the 15th state of the union.
Louisiana
The three fleurs de lis reference the personal standard of French King Louis XIV, namesake of the state. The color white represents the Bourbon dynasty, which governed Louisiana as a colony.
The color black represents the fertile soil of the Mississippi River delta, as well as the state’s dark history of slavery.
The star represents Louisiana’s statehood. The color gold represents the state’s bright future.
The gold star also references the gold star of the Cajun and Acadian ethnic flags, representing Louisiana’s identity as “Cajun country.”
Maine
This design is a simplified, stylized version of the first flag of Maine.
The color green and the triangles represent Maine’s forests, evoking a pine tree. The color buff represents Maine’s history in the American Revolution.
The star represents Maine’s statehood, evoking the statehood stars on the US flag.
Maryland
Just like California, even though it might break “rules” by being too busy, it has become iconic. People identify strongly with this flag, and it should not be changed.
Massachusetts
A green pine tree on a white field has been used on flags to represent Massachusetts dating back to 1775. This particular design is based on the state’s current naval ensign.
A red border is added to reference the use of red on many flags representing New England for centuries. The star represents Massachusetts’ statehood, evoking the statehood stars on the US flag.
Michigan
The star represents Michigan’s statehood, and the gear represents the state’s industrial history.
The two green stripes represent the Upper and Lower Peninsulas, as well as their forests.
The three blue stripes represent the lakes that define the shape of the state, Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron.
Minnesota
This design is based on a flag created by William Becker and Lee Herold.
From Wikipedia: The star represents “L’etoile du Nord” and Minnesota’s natural wealth, the blue background represents Minnesota’s lakes and rivers, the white represents winter, and the green represents farmland and forests. The waves represent the name Minnesota, a Dakota word which means “sky-tinted waters.”
I changed the star from Becker and Herold’s design. Whereas they used a gold five-pointed star, I used a white eight-pointed star. The eight-pointed star is often used to represent Polaris, the “North Star” on which this design is based. I also believe the white-blue-green color scheme works better without the inclusion of gold.
Mississippi
I wanted to stay as close to the current design of this flag as possible to respect the movement that achieved the recent change. For this flag, I simply switched out the realistic magnolia for a simpler, stylized version, as well as removing the text and adjusting the ring of stars accordingly.
Missouri
The red white and blue represent both the United States and Missouri’s French history.
The intersecting blue lines represent the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, the two largest rivers in the country, which have their confluence in Missouri.
The star represent’s Missouri’s statehood, evoking the statehood stars on the US flag.
Montana
The light blue stripe represents Montana’s identity as “big sky country.”
The triangles represent Montana’s mountains. The mountains form an “M” to represent the state’s name. The mountains are purple to evoke “purple mountains’ majesty” from “America the Beautiful.” The line is not specifically about Montana, but it does reflect what I think is Montana’s particularly beautiful landscape.
The star represents Montana’s statehood. The star is yellow and white to evoke Montana’s motto, “Oro y Plata,” or “Silver and Gold.”
Nebraska
The green and gold represent Nebraska’s agriculture.
The circle represents a train wheel, representing the important role of transcontinental railroads in the history of Nebraska.
The 37 stars represent Nebraska’s place at the 37th state admitted to the union.
Nevada
The orange stripe represents Nevada’s desert landscape. The gold stripe represents the state’s significant gold production. The color silver represents Nevada’s silver production and status as the “Silver State.”
The silver star has eight points to reference the stars on the gates at the entrances of Las Vegas and Reno.
New Hampshire
This design is based on the flag of the 2nd New Hampshire Continental Regiment, a fighting unit of the Revolutionary War.
The red white and blue represent the United States.
The white field represents the state’s White Mountains.
The circle of 13 interconnected rings, taken from the Continental Regiment flag, represents unity among the 13 revolutionary colonies. The star represents New Hampshire’s statehood.
For this design, I also had a unique idea to have a different colored field to be used as the flag during the four different seasons. White field for the Winter Flag, representing the snow on NH’s White Mountains. Blue field for the Spring Flag, representing the spring rains. Green field for the Summer Flag, representing the state’s forests in summer. Red field for the Autumn Flag, representing New England’s vibrant fall foliage.
New Jersey
This design was made by Nick Hawke and Andrew Maris. It is based on Revolutionary War uniforms.
A similar design uses a red triangle instead of the buff triangle on this flag. I really like the symbolism of the red and blue design, since it is based on the uniform of the Jersey Blues revolutionary militia. However, I prefer the buff design since the color combination is more unique among US state flags, and because the current flag is based on a buff field.
New Mexico
This is the best current US flag. No change.
New York
Orange, white, and blue have been used as New York’s colors, representing the state’s Dutch history.
The star represents New York’s statehood.
The spikes around the star represent the crown of the Statue of Liberty. They also point in all directions of the compass, symbolizing the path of people from all around the world to New York.
The blue lines represent the two rivers that define New York’s borders: the Hudson and the St. Lawrence.
North Carolina
This flag was hard for me to separate from its Confederate symbolism. I opted to go in an entirely different direction. The cornucopia in the center is taken from the seal of North Carolina as well as the Carolina colony that proceeded it. The 12 stars in a ring represent North Carolina’s place at the 12th state in the union. The blue border is included to capture the official state colors, red, white, and blue.
The cornucopia illustration is taken from Vexillology Wiki user Hans LN.
North Dakota
This design is a flag-ified version of the seal of the governor of North Dakota. The yellow and green represent agriculture and reflect the state’s motto “strength from the soil. The fleur de lis represents North Dakota’s history in the French Louisiana territory. The stars rising across the field could be taken to represent North Dakota’s rise as a state.
Ohio
This flag focuses on Ohio’s statehood, geography, and role in the freedom of former slaves.
Red white and blue represent the United States.
The blue stripes on the top and bottom represent Lake Erie and the Ohio River, respectively. These two bodies of water border Ohio to the north and south.
The red triangle represents Ohio’s history with the Underground Railroad, which American slaves would travel to escape slavery. The triangle pointing up above the bottom blue stripe represents the goal of the Underground Railroad of crossing north over the Ohio river. The Ohio river was the border between slave states and free states.
The red triangle also represents freedom from slavery by resembling a liberty cap. These pointed red caps are symbols of freedom used in symbology from Rome, America, France, Haiti, and central America.
The 17 stars represent Ohio’s admission as the 17th state in the union. The white star at the center respects Ohio’s statehood, referencing that statehood stars on the US flag.
Oklahoma
This flag is a stylized, simplified version of Oklahoma’s current flag, with the same Native American symbolism.
The stars are a new addition. The 40 points across the 8 stars represent Oklahoma’s native tribes. There are 39 points from each of the 39 tribal government in Oklahoma, plus one point to represent unity of the state’s people.
Oregon
This design is the back side of the current Oregon flag, with a beaver being the symbol of Oregon. A star is added to represent Oregon’s statehood and its physical location in the northwest of the United States.
Pennsylvania
Blue and yellow are the state’s unofficial colors, taken from their license plates and current flag.
The central shape represents the state’s nickname as the Keystone State. The three white circles on a black background is taken the from the family crest of William Penn, the state’s founder.
Rhode Island
I cleaned up the state’s current flag by removing the text and adding a blue fringe. The blue represents the ocean, and the three-sided fringe represents the state’s maritime history.
South Carolina
Another good flag that I did not change
South Dakota
The blue line represents the Missouri River, which divides South Dakota into its eastern and western halves.
The black represents the Black Hills in the west of the state.
The red references the many Sioux tribal flags that use red. The Sioux nations are prominent in the history of South Dakota, and the state is named after the Dakota Sioux. This specific shade of red is taken from the Oglala Sioux flag.
The star represents South Dakota’s statehood, and it is rising to represent South Dakota’s rise.
Tennessee
Another state with a good flag ruined by Confederate symbolism. Luckily, Tennessee has multiple great flags in its official lore. This design is the flag of the state legislature with the seal removed.
In my own interpretation, the two blue lines represent the two blue geographical lines that define the state’s borders: the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Mississippi River to the west. The red stripes represent the sacrifices made by two groups in Tennessee history: those who fought in the Revolutionary War who would later create the state of Tennessee, and those who fought to bring freedom to Black Tennesseans after slavery and segregation.
The three stars represent the three “Grand Divisions”of Tennessee: East, West, and Central.
Texas
A well-designed, charismatic flag — no change.
Utah
The golden trapezoid with the black star represents a beehive, the symbol of Utah and its predecessor, Deseret.
The star symbolizes Utah’s statehood.
The color black represents Utah’s state virtue of industry. The color red represents the unique colors of Utah’s landscape.
The red stripes, with their dynamic leftward diagonal, represent the westward journey of Utah’s founders fleeing from persecution.
The white stripes represent the five tribal nations in Utah: the Ute, Dine’ (Navajo), Paiute, Goshute, and Shoshone.
Vermont
This design is based on the flag of the Republic of Vermont.
The green represents the state’s landscape and namesake Green Mountains.
The 14 stars represent Vermont’s admission as the 14th state of the union.
The 14 stripes represent Vermont’s 14 counties.
Virginia
This design is based on the death-to-tyrants theme of the current Virginia flag, with a stylized spear running down at a fallen crown. The spear is red to represent the state’s revolutionary spirit.
The star represents Virginia’s statehood. The red, white, and blue represent the United States.
Washington
The blue stripe represents the Pacific Ocean off of Washington’s coast. The green stripe with white triangles represents the forests and mountains on the western side of the state. The gold stripe represents the golden plains on the eastern side of the state.
The star represents Washington’s statehood and its location in the northwest of the United States.
West Virginia
The white field with a blue border is based on the state’s various flags dating back to 1907.
The triangles represent West Virginia’s mountains. The blue mountains could reference the Blue Ridge Mountains, which only intersect WV very briefly. However, they are referenced in the state’s song, “Take Me Home Country Roads” by John Denver. The Blue Ridge intersection in West Virginia is also near much of the state’s population.
The mountains form the initials of the state, WV.
The color blue represents West Virginia’s origin in the Union side of the civil war, when the state broke away from Virginia, which joined the Confederacy.
The large top star represents West Virginia’s statehood, as one of the 50 statehood stars on the US flag.
The six stars in an arc represent the New River Gorge Bridge, a symbol of the state also found on its state quarter.
The 35 points across all 7 stars represent West Virginia’s place as the 35th state admitted to the US.
Wisconsin
This design is inspired by many that use the rightward arrow to represent the state’s motto “Forward.” The red white and blue represent the United States. The star represents Wisconsin’s statehood.
Wyoming
And finally, I just removed the seal from this otherwise good design of Wyoming’s current flag.
