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Opening Arguments

Not so grand old flag

Yesterday, we tackled state songs. Today, let's do flags. Ever looked at Indiana's? It has a torch, the name "Indiana" and 19 stars -- know what they mean? It means we were the 19th state, you simpleton:"The 13 stars in the outer circle represent the 13 original colonies of the United States of America; the 5 stars in a half circle represent the states admitted prior to Indiana (but after the original 13), and the larger star atop the flame of the torch of Liberty represents Indiana." Borrrrring!

Steve Champan over at reason.com thinks almost all state flags could be improved:

A lot more care goes into designing the basketball uniforms at big public universities than went into designing what flies over those schools.

[. . .]

A good flag is clean, simple, and distinctive. The experts at the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) offer an excellent rule: A child should be able to draw it from memory.

[. . .]

The more a flag tries to do, the less likely it is to succeed. Illinois features a bald eagle perched on a boulder, which bears the dates 1818 and 1868. The bird grips a stars-and-stripes shield in one talon, and its beak holds a streamer proclaiming "State Sovereignty, National Union" (with "sovereignty" upside down). At its feet are what looks like palm fronds and shoots of grass, and behind it is a sun rising over a body of water. All these images congregate above the state name.

This is not a flag but a novel.

At least our's isn't as busy as the Illinois flag. But it could use some improvement. Chapman lists some of the simple ones he likes -- Arizona with its starburst, Wyoming with its buffalo, South Carolina with its crescent moon over a palmetto tree. And of course, there is Texas. Who doesn't know what "The Lone Star State" means?

Posted in: Hoosier lore

Comments

Michael B-P
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 12:14pm

Think Cargill would license their logo to us for a new flag?

Bob G.
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 1:40pm

Gee, where's LARRY when 'ya need him anyway?

Larry Morris
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 2:04pm

Safe and sound in Texas, Bob, right where he belongs, ... anyone know how many flags Texas has had and what they mean ? Test, test, ...

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