Thread by @smartereveryday

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”.
nava.org/good-flag-bad-…

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.
🧵

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

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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"
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I think of the 5 Rules the symbolism point is probably the most difficult hurdle for the
@HospitalityFlag. This text from the official website (declaremississippi.com) explains the symbolism of the flag.

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Oh! I haven't showed you the flag yet. It's pretty rad TBH.

🧵 12 of ?

Pretty easy to draw btw. It’s only about 4.2 Alabamas....or about 1/5th of a Maryland if you’re taking notes. I wish the symbolism was stronger than “We were the 20th U.S. State”. I do like the circle & Red, White and Blue though. It feels like strong unity vibes to me.

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Rule 3.
“2 or 3 Basic Colors”
Yeah no problems here.

Before moving on I’d like to point out something that I think is aesthetically pleasing.... but often overlooked in flags.

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SYMMETRY!

Man how I love symmetry in a flag! Symmetry can be found in 5 Existing State flags.

Alabama
Arizona
Colorado
New Mexico
Ohio

The fact that by adopting the @hospitalityflag as-is Mississippi could join this elite symmetry club immediately is very compelling.

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Which brings us to Rule 4. No Lettering or Seals.
This is critical. There are several reasons why words are bad on a flag... some practical (what font?), some silly (it messes up symmetry!) But most importantly, I think you maximize unity when the flag is left more general
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I'm a Christian, and it might surprise you to hear that the words "In God We Trust" on the flag is unappealing to me. 2 reasons:
1. Separation of Church and State is awesome.
2. It doesn't represent unbelievers

That being said, Mississippi gets to chose whatever they want.
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Rule 5. Be Distinctive or Be Related.

The flag is pretty distinctive. A bit of Canada vibes, but it's far enough away that I don't think it's too big of a deal. The blue stars differentiate it enough for me personally.

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In closing:

Dear Mississippi,

1. I think the @HospitalityFlag looks nice and I hope it is considered.
2. I hope you join the symmetry club.
3. Please no seals or text on the flag.
4. I love you Mississippi, and am excited for the State's unity.

Warm Regards,

A guy in Alabama

Update: I woke up and realized I stayed up til 3am tweeting about flags and drawing them with crayons. It’s kinda like finding out that you’re Batman except way less awesome.

Thanks @romanmars for your tweet that apparently sparked a sleeping flag dragon within my soul.