To be fair the mayflower flag is much simpler. Mississippi somehow still gives "seal on a bedsheet" vibes without actually being one.
Tbh though I loved the flower flag the moment I saw it, as I think that it is a transportable emblem that is kinda distinct but contains state-specific details.
The top left is the most distinctive, but badly needs refining to make the feathers clear.
The top right looks a bit dated and is, I assume, a fairly literal representation of the geography of the state, and the bottom is too simple to be distinctive.
I thought that it was a reference to Bunker Hill. Really though, all of these are kind of lame. I wanted that “Appeal to Heaven” tree, that would have been rad.
Yea I loved the top left, I emailed the commission asking them to consider some sort of refining / modification process for it cause I think it has the most potential. I had fun making my own modification to it too.
The top right does represent the geography of the state, but as well as the “shining city on a hill” sermon which someone else mentioned, the word Massachusetts means “at the great hill” , so I quite like it
I like this one too. I think the entrants were limited by the Massachusetts Flag Design commission’s list of requirements.
The designer of this one tweaked it after public feedback to make the tree look more like the Massachusetts naval and maritime ensign which features a simple green pine atop a white field.
I don’t like any of that finalists and I hope they get some professional designers to develop some better final designs.
Much like the Minnesota flag contest, the people behind the choosing in general really hate the people of the state they 'represent' and would rather drink piss than give any representation to the actual people.
We have to remember that the commonwealth is essentially a one-party state, as with all one-party states they don't tend to allow chances for the lowly to embarrass them that way.
Traditionally the pine tree is a symbol of Mass, however, it's not the only state the pine tree is a symbol of. So the question is, what symbols are unique to Massachusetts? The colours are definitely: navy, golden and silver.
There's something in this, although the shield (and particularly the star) would look rather small when flying I think.
The proper heradic way to fly a coat of arms as a flag is as a banner of arms, i.e. to render the design on the shield as a flag. That would look good.
I don't know if I should upvote you for the version you linked or downvote you for your take on the three finalists. The wavy one is the worst of them all, by far, and that's quite the feat because the other two are nothing to phone home about.
Maybe there were just a few too many designs that were similar to this one? I personally like the one with the white on the hoist where the balance ratio is closer to the Azores flag.
Top Left is an interesting concept that I haven't seen before this redesign effort, but I don't think it works for an entire flag concept. Same for the Bottom.
After the Illinois redesign options were so awful that the original flag won the most votes, I'm starting to wonder if states are actively sabotaging these redesign efforts. "We tried, but the voters chose to do nothing. Oh well."
I was so peeved when I saw the final design but I genuinely have to admit it looks great flying, and the merch-ability of it is solid. Still looks like straight up ass when viewed as a flat pic on a screen though lol
Maybe the redesigns are just bad?
I've rarely seen good US State flag alternatives.
The "CGPG Rulez" are so restrictive, every new redesign that follows these "rules" has all the creativity, symbology and originality sucked out of them. The entire movement is garbage.
i think the popularity of the top right one among MA residents points out the divergence bt the general public and vexheads. like its novel and good to them - just like the original mountain river star flags were for the diehard vexheads.
These all suck but especially the upper right one. It looks like there should be a crèche scene under the star. I don’t get the concept of the blue hill at all.
As a Masshole, there were others that are better. I was hoping they would have gone with one featuring a white pine since that's been a symbol of the state and New England region since the colonial period.
I really like the wave one. As a Bay Stater I don't like the idea of a flag for MA that isn't white, blue, and yellow so the red one is out for me, and the other one feels uninspired and bland.
It's very symbolic; it's the city on a hill (famous saying about Boston), the Blue Hills (from which the state name derives), and the coast (history of sailing and whaling).
This whole exercise is really to sort out the motto and seal. The flag issue is just a bi-product of the seal change. But really I think you should start with the motto change. Our group took all the motto finalists in to an open competition format and the winner was "PEACE UNDER LIBERTY". Then you take that motto and place it in the ring of text that runs round the seal and balances "COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS". At that point you have to figure out what you put in your seal and on your flag. So you should take the intent from your selected motto - (see attached) A simple flag - division of field that's fitting, a shield, a star and a golden pine tree. The shield and that detail becomes the core of your seal and place two supporters - a female first nations tribal person and a Minuteman in Rev' War outfit.
If I were able to suggest one to Massachusetts, I'd do this one. Much better than the finalists, despite being simple it seems alright. Though I might be biased since I did make this one.
Everyone keeps saying the current flag is better so I looked it up, and to no surprise at all it’s a goddamn seal on a bedsheet. I know it’s in vogue for this sub to hate on everything that isn’t a seal on a blank sheet, but really? Can we try to be open minded? CGP Grey haters are always just parroting the same lines and it’s getting old and stale. “It’s corporate! It’s minimalist! It’s trash!”
The fact that these three are finalists tells me that regular people understand what makes a decent, distinctive flag better than anyone in this sub does
I would maybe not class it in the "seal on a bedsheet" category (even though it technically is) because it's not on a blue background so it is visually distinct from all the others, and also the seal isn't too busy and is kind of okay on the flag. A flag with just a seal on a plain background is not necessarily bad depending on how the seal looks and the context of the flag - in the sake of Massachuessets it's really only a slightly worse version of a shield on a flag which can look very good. Obviously it's worse than the Plymouth flag I linked, but it's still...I think "kinda bad" at worst. I definitely think the top right flag linked here is worse than the current flag, and I think the other two aren't that much better in terms of a flag to represent the state, and ideally a replacement should be much better. I think a better option would have been just to alter the current flag to replace the ribbon and the bit above the shield, and probably make the background two-tone.
It doesn't look bad, and it is quite distinctive. It's not uh Idaho or Wisconsin, ahem...
If you asked me I'd just slap a diagonal blue bar, or something like that.
But there seems to be an issue with the symbolism, too.
What's more concerning it that there has been many, many proposals that were not as simplistic as the bottom one, not as generic as the top right one, and more Mass-looking than the top left one. Look at a recent post about a flag contest for Vancouver, Washington: Same story. Plenty of cool designs in: a handful of rather bland ones out. The committee puts forward an official palette including purple, emerald, turquoise-ish and bright orange: They only keep the basic blue + basic green + white designs...
These 3 aren't bad, but I think many people here have seen better ones. (and then there's the "you know what? seal on bedsheet are actually stellar" crowd... yeah. But it's not just that)
The only one that even distinctly says “Massachusetts” to me would be #3. The mayflower. However, there’s nothing else in any of these that jump out to say “oh that’s Massachusetts!” It could literally be anyone’s flag.
These are all boring and lacking that iconic POP. The first looks too much like Hong Kong and the last too much like MS. The second one at least has some nice symbolism. But where it the feeling of wanting to go out an immediately get a tat of the flag? Do better flag committee!
Red one. Red is a color of both the British Empire and Native Americans so it invokes the state's history. The others look very generic, nothing about the Bay State intrinsic to its design.
PLEASSSSEEEE!!! Stop making Japanese prefecture and wavy line flags. Almost every state has water and rivers, it's not a defining factor to every state
I’ve always been behind having a mayflower on the flag, but put a little more effort into it. Even just swapping the proposed one with an illustrated style would go so much further.
Of these three, I guess the red one is best; the six feathers symbolizing Massachusetts’ dominion over the six New England states and the red color indicates our close affinity to the left, very Paris Commune vibes…Will be useful when we form our breakaway republic.
I feel like if a new flag is being added it shouldn’t be any of these 3 since they don’t really reflect Massachusetts well. Barely anything even alludes to the puritans or anything lol. I guess if I had to pick i’d go with the top left, since the red and the feathers looks pleasing.
I fucking hate the top right one with the waves with every fiber of my being. It's the most generic, bland thing I've ever seen. Nothing about it tells you what flag you're looking at at a glance. It could just as easily be the flag of any state bordering water or honestly it could also be a megacorporation. It just has no life behind it (the star itself is decent, but still).
Other than that, I think the bottom one's fine (though honestly a downgrade from the current), and the top left is kinda sick and original
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u/tacopig117 Sep 25 '25
Bottom looks like a Japanese prefecture flag