r/vexillology • u/Vexy Exclamation Point • Feb 27 '26
Contest February Contest Winners Thread
Full Results Page
The website above has a finalized standings page so you can see the final ratings for all flag submissions, their authors, and what you voted them (if you did).
Contest Voting Link
Prompt: Black History Month
This month, we want you to make a flag that symbolises black history month for Canada, Jamaica, or the United States.
Contest Top Entries
We had 59 submissions, here's the top 20 and best in each category:
Annual Top 20
| Rank | User | Total | Contests | Flags | Top 20 Flags | Winning Flags | Average | Jan | Feb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VertigoOne | 13.286 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3.322 | 6.3 | 6.987 |
| 2 | HistoricalTrip5247 | 13.064 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3.266 | 5.77 | 7.294 |
| 3 | Brasitino_do_Sul | 12.966 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3.241 | 6.619 | 6.346 |
| 4 | Miguk4Real | 12.849 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3.212 | 6.355 | 6.494 |
| 5 | ralley22 | 12.735 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3.184 | 6.421 | 6.314 |
| 6 | saladinmander | 12.024 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3.006 | 6.452 | 5.572 |
| 7 | planete_actions | 11.849 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2.962 | 5.735 | 6.114 |
| 8 | Possumsurprise | 11.292 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.823 | 5.76 | 5.532 |
| 9 | Choice-File5800 | 11.212 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.803 | 5.515 | 5.697 |
| 10 | Douverill | 10.281 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.57 | 4.766 | 5.515 |
| 11 | Virgulillo | 9.436 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2.359 | 4.655 | 4.782 |
| 12 | Emperor_Quint | 9.113 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2.278 | 4.778 | 4.335 |
| 13 | dayudayu | 8.856 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2.952 | 6.189 | 2.667 |
| 14 | Minute_Economist_392 | 8.288 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2.072 | 3.649 | 4.638 |
| 15 | RottenAli | 7.492 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.873 | 3.723 | 3.769 |
| 16 | BIGMAJI | 7.14 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.785 | 3.671 | 3.469 |
| 17 | bribridude130 | 7.062 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.354 | 2.297 | 4.765 |
| 18 | DWPerry | 6.721 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.68 | 2.509 | 4.212 |
| 19 | oblivicorn | 6.625 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3.313 | 6.625 | 0 |
| 20 | rasterski | 6.342 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3.171 | 6.342 | 0 |
Full annual standings and past winners
Congrats to /u/HistoricalTrip5247 on their 1st win! They will receive a custom flair of the winning flag and it will be forever enshrined within our Hall of Fame. They'll also get a custom flag from our new contest sponsors over at Flagmaker & Print!
6
u/VertigoOne Oct 20 Contest Winner Feb 28 '26
Thank you all for the category win!
Would love to know what you all liked about it!
Here's the symbolism again in case people don't want to click back
19:10 ratio is the same as the US flag.
Gold, black, red & green are pan African colours. Red top, black centre, and green base comes from M Garvey's 1920 Pan African flag.
The black section is 60% of the background, for the three-fifths compromise concerning African slaves. The flag takes this horrible decision and turns it into a design element. It also makes it a triangle pointing fly-wards to representing progress.
This black section contains 36 stars, for the 36 states that were part of the US when the 13th amendment ending slavery was signed in 1865. 14 other stars represent America's other 14 states, totalling 50 stars.
The sword is a blunted Moorish Boarding Sword from the 1967 Black American Heritage flag by M Charles and G T Jackson. The hilt has a 12 pointed Juneteenth star in a hexagon for December (12th month) 6th 1865. The hilt also features 13 stripes of equal width on the grip, for the 13th Amendment, pointing fly-wards to represent progress. The chevron design also signals hazards/danger of messing/harming that progress.
The fact that this warning is part of a weapon is important symbolically. Meant to invoke American defiant spirit of "Don't mess with us!"
2
u/Miguk4Real Apr 26 Contest Winner Mar 01 '26
I really liked this flag. However, I think having two dark colors together made it less appealing. I think I would have put a gold trim between the black, red, and green triangles, forming a "V" for victory element. This would not have required any loss of symbolism that you skillfully employed. Well done!
5
4
u/VertigoOne Oct 20 Contest Winner Feb 28 '26
Plus it isn't often you're able to get both Gold and Silver in the category! Any further feedback here would also be welcome
The use of a 19:10 ratio, stars and stripes, and an upper canton detailed piece, are meant to invoke classic American flag design choices. The colours and some other symbols however make this distinctly African American.
The red, black, and gold are taken from the Black American Heritage flag design.
The interlinked loop symbol is the Umoja symbol for Unity from the African American holiday of Kwanzaa. It also features jagged edges to symbolise the breaking of chains of slavery. These jagged sections fit perfectly back together to demonstrate Black African American unity.
The thirteen stripes are a nod to the American flag, but also represent the thirteenth amendment, the change to the US constitution that ended slavery.
The thirty six stars on the loops are the states that existed in the US at the time of the ratification of the thirteenth amendment. The fourteen other stars are states that have joined the US since, making up the total of fifty.
1
u/Miguk4Real Apr 26 Contest Winner Mar 01 '26
To be honest, I really didn't like this flag. I think the lack of contrast between the red and black hurt the overall design. I would have had the black square in the canton be gold and the stars inside black. This would have added appropriate contrast between your Umoja symbol and the background and as a bonus, it would have made the stars more visible. I also would have made the stars inside the red symbol gold, again for greater visibility. With these changes, I think I keeping the black and red stripes would be okay.
With these changes, I don't think you would have lost the connection with Kawanzaa.
But what do I know....
3
u/Brasitino_do_Sul :MY25: May 25 Contest Winner Feb 28 '26
OOOooo, didn't expect to get good results this month honestly! (procrastination got the best of me help)
I thought there were some awesome designs this contest! So, of course, I'll list some of my personal favorites!
The winner, Horns of Freedom (loved how our designs ended up one behind the other when we're basically mirrored versions), Black American Umoja, Canadian Black Spruce (which I thought was pretty clever while keeping it simple and connected to Canada), Canadian Bloom, Writing Black History and 12 Stripes, Every Month is BHM (which I didn't expect to end as low as it did)
And also, as always, any feedback for my designs for Jamaica's and (especially) Canada's BHM is welcome!
2
u/HistoricalTrip5247 Netherlands • Utrecht Mar 01 '26
Yeah, even the names for our Jamaican flags are very similar. What a coincidence 🤔
2
u/Miguk4Real Apr 26 Contest Winner Mar 01 '26
I really enjoy how you consistently make good flags, month after month.
3
u/Miguk4Real Apr 26 Contest Winner Mar 01 '26
Congrats to u/HistoricalTrip5247 for the win! I really enjoyed your flag! In looking at the annual top 20 designers, I noticed that all of the top 6 designers have won at least one monthly contest, except me, lol. I came close a while back, placing #2. Perhaps one day, I'll catch lightning in a bottle and win one of these monthly contests. Until then, I will continue to be grateful to be listed among such great designers such as you and be inspired by the high quality of flags that you and others produce.
Well done!
2
u/Possumsurprise Kentucky Mar 01 '26
First time placing this high!!! It's kind of funny because I forgot to do the contest until an hour before it was due so that Jamaica flag was made in like 15 minutes lol
Most of my favorites placed toward the top for once but I found #33 very underrated. I was anticipating it not placing high because of general hesitance amongst many for complex or patterned flags but I loved it, it's like something you'd hang on display for the aesthetic appeal just as much as the meaning.
1
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u/Pennonymous_bis Feb 28 '26
"I just thought it could look cool"
u/Vigullilo , you have my sword.