Let's talk about state flags, shall we?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

I just returned from a visit to Maryland, where I was born and raised, and let me tell you, there are Maryland flags everywhere. Bumper stickers (a lot of them in the form of a crab), shirts, shorts, lanyards, keychains, just about everything that you could imagine with a Maryland flag on it.

Yes, the Maryland flag is apparently a big deal now, and I can understand it. It looks like something one might find at a medieval jousting tournament (which, coincidentally, is the state sport of Maryland), and while it might be accused of being too busy, it's not hodgepodge. Fly it upside down and it's the same as right side up. (Which would be very frustrating for any Marylander in distress).

Funny thing is, all the Maryland flag love is fairly new. When I lived there barely anyone paid much attention to the Maryland flag. But these days you can't walk three feet without running into something with yellow, black, red and white plastered all over it.

It helps that it is unique. Too many state flags are just extremely boring. About half of them are just blue blackgrounds with the state logo in the middle of it.

There are a couple of exceptions.

There's New Mexico, which is heavily Native American inspired:



Arizona, with its rays of sun:



Ohio, which is like a deconstructed American flag and the only one not a rectangle:




I like palm trees, so I have to admit South Carolina's flag gives off a nice vibe:



Nice beaver, Oregon:



So any favorites for anyone else?

[Aristus]

1. HEY! Washington State's flag isn't blue with the state seal in the middle!

<------- It's green with the state seal in the middle!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

3. And a clipart picture of George Washington in the middle!

Kick ass!

[Ohiogal]

2. I've always been proud of our flag's unusual shape

One of the few things we Ohioans can be proud of! Certainly not the majority of our politicians!

[Floyd R. Turbo]

28. The Ohio Burgee is the coolest!

[yallerdawg]

4. Alabama flag - which also includes our "State-Approved Signature!"

[Canoe52]

8. That took me a minute, and then I lmao.

[jberryhill]

13. lol

The "no one under 18 permitted to watch" state.

[flibbitygiblets]

26. Your comment is funny. And the flag appears to be a nod to Confederacy?

[jberryhill]

34. The Cross of St. Andrew far pre-dates the Confederacy

Scotland:

[csziggy]

39. Florida's flag is the Cross of St. Andrew with the state seal on top

A red saltire on a white field, with the seal of Florida superimposed at the center.

Between 1868 and 1900, the flag of Florida was simply the state seal on a white background. In a discrepancy, however, a later version of the state seal depicts a steamboat with a white flag that includes a red saltire, similar to Florida's current flag. In the late 1890s, Governor Francis P. Fleming advocated that St. Andrew's Cross be added so that it would not appear to be a white flag of truce hanging still on a flagpole. Floridians approved the addition of St. Andrew's Cross by popular referendum in 1900.[6] The red saltire of the Cross of Burgundy represents the cross on which St. Andrew was crucified, and the standard can be frequently seen in Florida's historic settlements, such as St. Augustine, today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Florida

Here is their flag during secession:

[geardaddy]

47. Technically, the red saltire is the cross of St. Patrick.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Saltire

[csziggy]

49. Aparently the legislature of Florida that made the change was ignorant of that

Because the description quoted in the Wikipedia article excerpt is from the state's official description.

[yallerdawg]

37. Now HERE is a nod to the Confederacy.

Which explains our Alabama state slogan: "Thank God for Mississippi!"

[Denis 11]

45. My son carried the Alabama flag in Montgomery ...

At a Veteran's day parade 5 years ago.
We live in Connecticut, I was very proud my son was given that opportunity.
I believe Alabama is a very special place.
When I visited there it just had a great vibe.

[California_Republic]

5. White to the sky !

[jberryhill]

6. Delaware - way ahead of its time on that Date Which Will Live In Infamy thing

Also not "blue with the state seal in the middle" - it's COLONIAL blue with the state seal in the middle.

[jpak]

10. Ha! - we got a pine tree and moose

And dudes with anchors and scythes...and the North Star.

[jberryhill]

11. But how long did your two people have to wait?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

14. Ironically, Kentucky of all places seemed to have gotten a head start on things.

I wonder what Kim Davis thought about that?

[jberryhill]

16. OMG, it must have been their famous state jelly

Now that KY Jelly thing makes sense.

Can you get a baker to put that on top of a cake there?

[jpak]

15. December 29, 2012 - by popular vote - and this was our original state flag

[Abu Pepe]

7. Always thought the SC flag was the coolest.

I like the symbolism of my own state's flag (TX). Its like an enlarged section of the US flag. But SC, NM and MD have the most visually appealing ones.

[jberryhill]

9. It's fun to fool RWers into thinking the SC flag is some Islamic country

Remember when they freaked out over Obama giving a speech in Ohio with state flags in the background? They thought it was some kind of "Obama flag" that had corrupted the US flag:

https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2008/10/16/radio-host-bob-grant-asserted-that-obama-create/145712

On the October 15 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Bob Grant said: "[W]hat is that flag that Obama's been standing in front of that looks like an American flag, but instead of having the field of 50 stars representing the 50 states, there's a circle?" He then said: "Is the circle the 'O' for Obama? Is that what it is?" Grant later said: "[D]id you notice Obama is not content with just having several American flags, plain old American flags with the 50 states represented by 50 stars? He has the 'O' flag. And that's what that 'O' is. That's what that 'O' is. Just like he did with the plane he was using. He had the flag painted over, and the 'O' for Obama. Now, these are symptom -- these things are symptomatic of a person who would like to be a potentate -- a dictator." '

[Abu Pepe]

12. Its definitely evocative of Morocco or some other N. African place.

not one of the reddest states in the former Confederacy, but still a pretty cool place. And the flag represents it pretty well. Place is full of palmettos that look cool in the moonlight.

[jberryhill]

17. SC is definitely a sleeper cell state

[Bayard]

22. I think that's supposed to be a palmetto

[Abu Pepe]

29. What does that say in Arabic?

While I breathe I hope or Prepared Mind and Resources?

[jberryhill]

31. It's the Shahada

[Abu Pepe]

32. Great state motto for SC

Only thing better might be ulalation.

If there is a way to write it.

[genxlib]

18. I think you can credit/blame Under Armour for the Maryland flag thing

The founder is a former Univ of Maryland player and is based in Baltimore.

When he started dressing UM football, he seemed to latch onto that flag motif. I think that started a fad.

[genxlib]

19. They were ugly uniforms

But they definitely created a buzz and a unique identity for the team

http://uniformcritics.com/football/college/maryland-terrapins/maryland-pride-white-unis

[Tommy_Carcetti]

20. Well, I'm glad University of Maryland football will be remembered for something.

Anything.

They'll take it.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

24. Yes. Kevin Plank. NT

[samnsara]

21. Washington State just copied and pasted theirs from a dollar bill :(

[mahatmakanejeeves]

23. It looks like something one might find at

a medieval jousting tournament (which, coincidentally, is the state sport of Maryland)

One of them. The state team sport is lacrosse:

MARYLAND AT A GLANCE

STATE SYMBOLS

Maryland State Sport - Jousting
Maryland State Team Sport - Lacrosse
....

LACROSSE

Effective October 1, 2004, Lacrosse became the official team sport of Maryland (Chapter 272, Acts of 2004; Code General Provisions Article, sec. 7-329(b)).

Which us to:

Maryland Flag HeadWrapz Decals

and:

Maryland Flag Quads Lacrosse Shorts

and:

Game Photos: Maryland Men’s Lacrosse Silences the Hopkins Band, 9-6

Lacrosse Playground / April 15, 2012

and, in general:

https://www.google.com/search?biw=1600&bih=720&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=Vb_YWqjbPKPI_QaopobYDw&q=maryland+lacrosse+shorts&oq=maryland+lacrosse+shorts

Full disclosure: I found a pair of Maryland flag lacrosse shorts at a Goodwill back in 2015. I'm waiting for the right occasion to wear them.

[gratuitous]

25. Where's the other half of Oregon's state flag?

Oregon has two images on the same flag, because it's cool like that:

[BarbaRosa]

27. A little info about the New Mexico flag.

[Brother Buzz]

30. The model for California's flag, the bear, was a stuffed grizzly bear named Monarch

http://www.sfpix.com/park/history/monarch/

[jberryhill]

33. Was he named Monarch before he was stuffed?

[Brother Buzz]

35. Yes, he was captured alive and forced to suffer twenty-two years in captivity

in foggy Golden Gate Park; the California grizzly did not hibernate.

http://www.monarchbear.org/monarch/

[ailsagirl]

41. I did not know that, Brother Buzz

[Brother Buzz]

42. For many years the urban myth was the bear was the real Grizzly Adams' biggest grizzly, 'Samson',

borrowed from a woodcut made by Charles Nahl for a relevantly unknown early biography of Adams - The Adventures of James Capen Adams: Mountaineer and Grizzly Bear Hunter of California by Theodore H. Hittell (1860)



The confusion continues today:

During Grizzly Adams' exhibition of his grizzly bears and other trained animals in San Francisco, he was working with Hittell from July, 1857 until December 1859. Hittell listened to Adams narrate his adventures almost daily for an hour or so and took careful notes, cross-questioning Adams to assure he had it straight. Adams knew, and was apparently flattered by the fact Mr. Hittell intended to write a book based upon Adams' talks.Also, during this time, the artist Charles C. Nahl took an interest in Adams' grizzlies and, working with Hittell, prepared illustrations (one of which is at the head of this article) that would be used in Hittell's forthcoming book. One of his paintings eventually became the model for the grizzly bear on California's state flag. In 1860, after Adams had relocated to New York, Theodore H. Hittell published his book, The Adventures of James Capen Adams, Mountaineer and Grizzly Bear Hunter of California, in San Francisco, and then later that year, in Boston.

You decide

[ailsagirl]

44. I had thought that Grizzly Adams was sort of a friend to bears(?)

But thank you for this-- it's very interesting

[FakeNoose]

36. I don't think anybody has posted the Pennsylvania Commonwealth flag yet

Since we're one of the original 13 colonies, maybe our flag is more historic than many other states. But I'll admit there's nothing very exciting about this image.

If this were redrawn today it would probably be all about football - Penn State Nittany Lions, Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles.

[Glorfindel]

38. Georgia has had eight (8!) different flags since 1879

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Georgia_(U.S._state)

The current one is simply the "first national flag of the Confederacy" plus the great seal of Georgia. I think no one likes it, but there again nobody really cares.

[ailsagirl]

40. California, of course

[jmowreader]

43. Alaska's flag is quite pleasant

As is the Hawaiian flag:

[Tommy_Carcetti]

46. Yeah, I like Alaska's too.

Feels like I'm at a Planetarium.

[geardaddy]

48. Yep, Minnesota's is one of those boring ones

Iowa's has a nod to the French Tricolour

[Cairycat]

52. The motto on Iowa's flag is pretty cool

"Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain"

The nod to the French tricolor is perhaps because it was part of the Louisiana territory.

[geardaddy]

53. That's what I thought, too.

Plus there are some French language city names like Des Moines.

[TuxedoKat]

50. I always thought the MD Flag

looked like a flag you'd see at a car racing event. Always liked it though (former Marylander). My new state flag, NY, is pretty boring.

[forgotmylogin]

51. I currently live in Missouri

and THE FLAG HAS MOTHERFUCKING SPOKESMODEL BEARS.


I am from Illinois, and it's "State Seal on White Background with Name of State in Serif Font" like it was designed by Sam the Eagle himself.

[sakabatou]

54. There's a video on state flags