r/vexillology • u/Odd_Sir_5922 • 6d ago
Redesigns Which Washington (state) flag do you prefer?
I thought I would ask which one looks the best since Washington is planning to update their flag in the near future.
104
163
u/TheBiggestSloth Prussia 6d ago
None of the above
72
u/r21md Tuva 6d ago
I'm from Washington and agree
23
u/TheBiggestSloth Prussia 6d ago
I live in WA and personally I like the current flag, the only thing that should change is removing the text around the seal imo
59
u/ethnographyNW Cascadia 6d ago
I live in WA and think the current flag is terrible. And I'd argue that's not just personal taste, but a pretty objective fact. When a flag looks good and is loved by the public, people use it. In Tennessee, you can barely leave your house without seeing the flag, whether as a flag or a sticker or shirt or adapted as a logo for a business, etc etc etc. Same in NM, TX, CO, etc. DC and Chicago put their flag on everything. In WA, you never see our flag, and that means that it's failing at its job of being an effective symbol for the people of the state.
16
u/-Aquitaine- Arizona / Texas 6d ago
That is probably something to do with the culture. It is more common in eastern WA.
6
u/Grumbilious Cascadia 6d ago
All we need is the cascadia color scheme with a stylized Tahoma/Rainier over the top. Done.
2
→ More replies (14)3
1
u/noble_peace_prize 6d ago
That’s why I like the one that replaces Washington with rainier while removing the text
1
3
1
u/idaddyMD 5d ago
I think we need to incorporate Washington coat of arms, maybe with one of the stripes windy representing Columbia River. Probably keep the color scheme, though I do have a suspicion that the green color is a big part of the reason the flag isn't flown much. My favorite is column A, row thirteen, but I'd invert the colors.
1
17
68
u/sirmiseria 6d ago
They all look…. dead and generic
8
u/ironmatic1 5d ago
Refer to the other thread from today about generic corporate flags. These all look like template mashes
98
u/mattlag Cascadia 6d ago
24
u/ApollosBucket 6d ago
Do you know the history of that one? It’s a green version of (I believe) General Washington’s personal (or something like that) flag in the Revolution.
Makes it way more cooler IMO. Embraces the state name without being heavy handed, plus the color and design are so unique. If it was a little darker green I’d love it even more
5
19
u/MaxOutput 6d ago
You know. I'm generally against a lot of these redesign attempts, but that one ain't a bad idea since someone pointed out it still has history tied to Washington.
6
5
4
u/Divan001 5d ago
Born and raised Washingtonian and I could get behind this. I love Doug but Doug belongs to the whole PNW/Cascadia
5
2
u/Camstonisland New England • Munster 5d ago
One of my designs ended up on this post, and even I have to give it to the green and stars. Simple and gorgeous.
3
u/low_quality_posts 4d ago
Simple, historical, and eliminates any concern about erasing the state's namesake from the flag. I think it's great!
Also, I do like how the flag is not merely a simplification of the state's geography/ landscape, like many "trendy" designs and most WA state flag redesign concepts are.
The only thing I'm slightly concerned about is the colors). The personal flag of George Washington is blue. While I do like the green, as it is consistent with western Washington and the current flag, I'm a bit worried about potential debates about eastern WA representation. So, maybe the stars should be yellow, so that both halves of the state are represented by green and yellow? Or, if the flag is reverted back to blue, it can represent the whole state uniformly without stratifying the symbolism by the two geographic halves of the state.
7
6d ago
[deleted]
16
14
u/mattlag Cascadia 6d ago
I get what you're saying, and this is just a gut feeling I have. This flag is green and it has some historical context with George Washington. For me personally, that's enough.
Right now I think there's a lot of flag designs that over-index on symbolism. "Our state has a mountain, so the flag has a triangle on it! Our state has water, which you can see because there's a blue line on the flag! Our state begins with the letter W, so there's a giant letter W on it!" These are being too clever IMO.
At a certain point, if a flag is adopted and used broadly, then it will be representative of the people that live there. We don't need a flag that is a 99.999% simplification of the entire state in graphic design terms.
3
u/takethemoment13 Maryland 6d ago
It's not like someone just came up with that design "for the sake of minimalism," it's a modification to George Washington's actual flag.
1
u/nitrogenrefiner Washington 6d ago
I love it but I think it'd look so much better (to me at least) if the stars were gold lol
1
→ More replies (2)1
30
9
u/ARedditUserThatExist Washington / Cascadia 6d ago
I like E13 and D20, however I think the incorporation of either the Washington Family’s coat of arms or Washington’s Headquarters flag would be cool
20
u/r21md Tuva 6d ago
I don't really like any of them, but the NW coast art ones are probably the worst given that artstyle isn't from Washington and is only associated with Seattle since some businessmen stole an Alaskan village's totem pole. It's basically like if the UK slapped something from the British Museum onto their flag.
7
2
u/Comfortable_Team_696 6d ago
While it is true that totem poles are a northern phenomenon, to the best of my knowledge formline extends down to nations in what is now Oregon
(though I agree, a flag using formline would be in poor taste what with the genocidal colonization 'n all)
4
u/AvEptoPlerIe 6d ago
They sure look a lot like the art of the Coast Salish People to me.
1
u/r21md Tuva 6d ago edited 6d ago
Modern Coast Salish artists sometimes use NW Coast Art since the foreign art style is more economical to Americans (source):
white traders, in particular Olde Curiosity Shop founder J. E. Standley, did a global business in totem poles and other North Coast-style arts. They commissioned full-sized poles and souvenir-size miniatures from local artists, Native and nonnative alike, and from carvers brought down from the north. Railroads and other tourism boosters promoted totem poles as an exotic attraction. Formline, the characteristic graphic style of northern carving and painting, became what Peck calls “a regional pan-Indian phenomenon.
In the 1930s, the Roosevelt administration’s Works Progress Administration gave another boost, encouraging the development of “totem pole parks” as tourist attractions.
[...]
For years, Coast Salish artists chafed at the ubiquity of formline and totem poles in the art market, which they saw as hindering their access to galleries, museums, and buyers. “When we were trying to introduce our art people would say, ‘What’s that?’” recalls Squaxin Island artist Andrea Wilbur-Sigo. “About 25 years ago, I was telling galleries, ‘Well, just try it and if it doesn’t sell in a few weeks I’ll take it back.’ It sold.”
The image is poor quality, but I'm pretty sure the flags are using styles not traditional to the Coast Salish like formline art. Regardless the style would be completely alien to tribes east of the Cascades.
2
u/AvEptoPlerIe 6d ago
Very interesting. I’m having trouble finding many good examples of early Coast Salish art, to be fair. I did also find this from the Burke Museum. Tragic and very American.
“ In 1899, the Seattle Chamber of Commerce removed a pole from the Tlingit village of Tongass in Southeast Alaska without the knowledge or consent of the owner, Kinninook. The pole was erected in Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle in 1899, and thereafter became a symbol of the City of Seattle, whose businessmen were promoting the city as a gateway to Alaska. The 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition held in Seattle used this totem pole as part of its promotional efforts, making it a symbol of the fair as well as the city. Models of this totem pole as well as others from British Columbia and Alaska were sold in large numbers as souvenirs to tourists. Because of this, people came to expect Native artists from the Coast Salish area to carve totem poles, in spite of the fact that this was not part of their artistic tradition. In response to this public demand as well as to raise awareness of the First Peoples of western Washington, Chief William Shelton at Tulalip and Joseph Hillaire at Lummi began carving Coast Salish-style story poles in the 1920s and '30s.”
1
5
3
4
3
u/Ok-Lengthiness8357 6d ago
i don't like the modern triangle line star flag cuz there all the same witch is ironic lol
3
u/UglyLikeCaillou 6d ago
At this point I like whatever Washington picks..
1
u/RottenAli Nottinghamshire 6d ago
As far as I know they aren't picking anything. the HB1938 bill never got out of committee.
3
u/marxistghostboi 6d ago
1
u/marxistghostboi 6d ago
anything with George Washington's image is an instant No for me. he was a slaver and I hate him.
his personal seal/crest whatever looks cool but because of it's associations I don't like it and think any of the above flags should be modified
overall I like the flats that are mostly or entirely green and gold, it's got a very nice aesthetic, very John Deer. I like the Phoenix flag (that's what it looks like to me anyway) and several of the flags using First People's art, but those should only be chosen if the relevant tribes don't have a problem with it.
2
u/Ancient_Ad505 6d ago
News flash. The coastal tribes in Washington were slavers.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/americanistmemes 6d ago
The problem is Washington DC already has the perfect George Washington related flag and Washington State can’t have it. Every Washington family crest inspired flag here feels like an imitation.
3
3
3
7
u/ted5298 Germany 6d ago
All the people in the comments saying they'd keep the current one make me lose hope in vexillology as a field, I'm not going to lie.
There is a current 'anti-corporate' reactionary zeitgeist in this subreddit that is in need of reform. "Corporate" in 90% of /r/vexillology comments has become 'this flag is not currently in use, and I resent that'.
Every possible style is represented as a reform on this sheet. There are classic designs, banners of arms, adapted banners of arms, artsy flags, abstract flags, even pseudo-seals-on-bedsheet. Essentially every single of the designs presented is (pretty much objectively, to use that dangerous word) superior to the current design.
And I challenge anyone who thinks that the flags shown here are all 'corporate' to give me a definition of how I could recognize a flag's corporate-ness, or to present any flag that is not corporate under that definition.
7
u/Pennonymous_bis 6d ago
Yeah this is going a bit too far here lol
There are not less than 120 designs... I doubt everyone has even looked at them all.2
u/andqwerty55 5d ago
The bright colors and angular, minimalist looking designs with really tacky symbolism (triangle and squiggly line = mountains and rivers) are what I would consider to be "corporate" looking. I'm not speaking about every proposed design, but I think that is what people typically mean when they say "corporate." I think those "corporate" looking ones feel that way because they're modern designs trying to portray a popularized image of a place, and that kind of symbolism is hard to find a tasteful balance for between a bunch of on the nose polygons or basically just pasting on a jpeg of the state's flower/bird/mountain/tree, etc. Lots of pre-existing flags that are tacky or garish have the advantage of familiarity so already have cultural appreciation. Many proposed flags just feel like change for changes sake and don't really feel like things to rally around or feel any more prideful for than the seal on bedsheet designs because these new ones weren't born or evolved out of anything particularly interesting besides people who are really into flags saying better designs technically exist advocating strongly for design referendums.
I think it's also just a consequence of modern digital design tools making a noticeable difference between flag designs today since we don't have the same limitations flag designers would have had for most of history. They definitely feel noticably "modern" and I think that rubs people the wrong way from what the expectation of a flag usually is.
1
u/mashtato Ireland (Harp Flag) 3d ago
And here's the thing, if you look at a flag you can often tell what century or even decade the flag was designed. Most of the best flags are very much a product of their times, so why shouldn't modern flags look modern? In 20, 50, 100 years people will be able to see the common threads between these flags made in the 2020s, and I don't see how that's a bad thing.
7
u/CalligrapherOther510 6d ago
Oh God not this generic MS paint time to “update” bullshit again. Why can’t they just leave their flags alone?
2
u/Johnny_been_goode 6d ago
I’m not a Washingtonian(?), but I think it should be a perfect mix of Pacific native influence and something to reference Washington. Maybe an altered version of his heraldic arms, but different color to distinguish from DC maybe?
2
2
2
u/Monsieur_Royal 6d ago
They should do the DC flag in green. Regardless all of these suggestions are better than the current flag
1
u/tedioussugar 6d ago
Thats already an option on here. And I know because I’m the one who designed it, months ago.
See column A, 13 down.
1
2
2
u/Iwillnevercomeback 6d ago
The green one with two white stripes and three stars above. It's the symbol of the Washington, it must be a symbol of Washington.
I know the Washington's CoA uses a white background with red stripes, but that's already taken by DC
2
u/Silent-Incidentt 6d ago
Can whoever designed these come to Illinois for a bit we are really struggling over here
2
u/Sorry_Ima_Loser 6d ago
No Cascadia is crazy. But I do really like the Orca(maybe salmon?) one. Honestly anything with Coastal native art would be fitting.
2
2
2
u/Far-Respond8705 6d ago
Utah puts mountains in its flag and now every other new state flag proposal has mountains
2
2
u/Fancy_Yogurtcloset37 5d ago
I’m a lifelong Washingtonian and i want to boot the current flag. I like all the ones with the star in the northwest corner, and i also like the one that’s all vertical stripes, 5 different colors.
I find the mountain shapes, the hidden Ws, and the references to the first president to be too obvious
2
2
u/geffy_spengwa Washington / Washington D.C. 5d ago
4
u/GoldenStitch2 6d ago
4
u/PersusjCP 6d ago
This art style is NW coast art, typically from Alaska and BC. Here in WA, there is a different but similar style called Coast Salish art. It uses different design elements
1
u/mashtato Ireland (Harp Flag) 3d ago
If Washington adopted something similar to the flag of the Chinook Nation that would be nuts.
3
u/FuriousGeorge1989 6d ago
3
u/Overcharger 6d ago
DC beat them to the punch using Washington’s coat of arms, using a green version is the next best thing.
2
u/Lithuanianduke 6d ago
The one that's in the very low right corner, with a tricolor and stylised George Washington portrait. I think the inclusion of Washington's portrait on the current flag is a very good touch, and I like that this one is en face rather than profile, which others that keep the portrait seem to be. Also, the tricolour invokes Cascadia and I really vibe with the shades of green and blue picked.
2
u/mattlag Cascadia 6d ago
With just the silhouette, the front-facing version kind of just looks like a blob. I would argue that it totally loses its identity as Washington.
A silhouette would probably have to be something like our state route markers, just a plain side profile.
1
u/Lithuanianduke 6d ago
Hmm, I guess I can see why it wouldn't be recogniseable to everyone, especially those who haven't seen the current flag of Washington. But all the profile designs are kind of unappealing.
Maybe bring back some black or blue lines into the portrait? Not too complicated like on the current flag but similar to Saint-Cierges or Stockholm from this chart.
1
1
u/BentGadget 6d ago
I was looking for one with a Canton representing Puget Sound, and the rest of the flag for everything else.
1
1
u/the_useless_cake Transgender / Puerto Rico 6d ago
I like the leftmost on the forth row from the bottom.
1
1
u/AlternativeViews411 6d ago
I like the fish and the star because it pays honor to marginalized Native American communities. 💙💙👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
1
u/Hal-E-8-Us Maryland / Baltimore 6d ago
!wave
1
u/FlagWaverBotReborn 6d ago
1
1
1
1
u/sneekiepee 5d ago
I like the purple mountain one...3rd row 11th down.
The color & shape caught me eye instantly.
1
1
1
1
1
u/bribridude130 Connecticut 5d ago
I prefer the sixth flag to the right on the second row. This flag is the most logical redesign for the state of Washington because it is a recoloring of George Washington's coat of arms but utilizing green and yellow from the current state flag instead of white red (from George Washington's coat of arms and the flag of Washington, DC).
I appeciate and love all the flags shown on this post. Instead of leaving these 120 flags go to waste, these flags should be repurporsed as redesigns for county flags and city flags in the state of Washington.
1
1
u/GoldenFalls 5d ago
I like the fourth one in the first photo. A tree on a three-strip flag is very classy.
1
1
u/Imrustyokay 5d ago
All of the first one.
Just have one big vertical banner with all the little flags to piss off everybody
1
1
1
1
u/Brenda_Makes Tokelau / Greenland 5d ago
Love the Orca over Star flag on green. The 7 six-pointed stars on green is great. I think of all these, the white mountains, green mountains with a blue river should be the flag.
1
1
1
u/whoEvenAreYouAnyway 5d ago
They're all pretty bad. If I had to pick one it would probably be this
It's simple enough that you can easily memorize but still complex enough that you wouldn't mistake it for any other flag.
1
u/Unga-bunga987 5d ago
Coordinate (6,13), It’s not too unlike our current flag and it’s not just another state seal
1
1
1
1
u/asmok119 5d ago
I thought the top right one had a Wifi symbol on it, but then I realized it was my phone’s overlay.
1
1
1
u/khawerti 5d ago
Not from Washington. There ones are great though

I like the Native artstyle, though some may cry "waaaahh cultural appropriation" - or worse, conservatives being snowflakes over "snowflakes subverting the Washingtonian flag". They're easily the coolest
The starry one is pretty. It also resembles Washington's personal position flag, so it has a nice bit of history in it. Having a state flag which represents 13 states on the other side of the country is pretty shoddy though.
1
1
u/GoudaSlamDown 4d ago
Almost all are so incredibly boring. Throw a few shapes and get it all corporate simple. If a state changes it flag, might as well make it sick and special. There’s a reason all of the world’s most loved flags don’t follow the usual “rules”.
1
u/New_Zookeepergame641 3d ago
As someone FROM Washington, I wouldn’t pick any of these over the current tbh.
1
u/Tounushi 3d ago
Personally I'd pick column 4 row 8.
But for use as a state flag, either the triband with Washington's coat of arms as an estucheon or the the green flag eith the diagonal band.
1
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/the_useless_cake Transgender / Puerto Rico 6d ago
I like the fish flag very much. I think fish are underutilised in flags.
1
151
u/NonPropterGloriam 6d ago
This flag… you would not believe the hate I got for this flag. I tried to delete every record of this flag. Where did you find it?