This flag design ignores every guideline from the OAAA (Outdoor Advertising Association of America), but then there were no billboards at the time, of course. Still, one important guideline is, "Set the design at the end of a long hallway, then find out whether you can easily read it from the other end of the hall." I used to instruct my graphic designers to get up from their computer screens and try to read the message from waaaaay across the room before sending it out for approval. Whenever I did this for the first time, they often looked at me like I had horns and one eye.
All it takes is one look at their ideas, and it's very easy to just throw this whole premise on the trash pile. These guys stink at what they do and should find another line of work.
That said, Wales has the best national flag. NC doesn’t have a dragon (don’t go down the rabbit hole on NC Dragons, Grand or otherwise), but we do have a variety of animals and plants (as say Lebanon’s tree).
The most unique plant to NC is the Venus Flytrap! Release the license plate (Sen Rabon) and put a version of that image on the flag!
This is a wild mashup of worlds. Paul was my thesis advisor in grad school. Though I doubt he remembers me - I was a thoroughly unremarkable grad student.
PS, I use the substack RSS feature for you, Charlotte Ledger, and The Food Section.
If you are looking to find a great source to buy your state or American flag or make your own - look no further than Hillsborough NC and Carrot-Top https://www.Carrot-Top.com
The (great) CGP Grey graded all the state flags in a video a few months ago. I wonder if the students were inspired by his video or if there has been a lot of discussion about the flag in general that he picked up on? He’s from North Carolina but currently lives in London.
Honestly, I've always liked the "N ★ C", even if two of those three marks are objectively letters they have a very non-letter vibe, y'know? That said, the Guilford Courthouse flag is my favorite of our "yeah that probably didn't happen either" Revolutionary War-era legends and I think it'd be cool to have a design based on it
It's actually a liberty/Phrygian cap on the end of a pole, not a broom. (As to why they chose to stick the hat on top of a pole instead of having her hold it, I have no idea.)
I'm fine with changing the colors and layout and getting rid of the star. But it should keep the NC and the dates - just as long as they change the May 20th, 1775 date to May 31st, 1775 for the Mecklenburg Resolves.
I came here specifically to comment that this article is blasphemy, the NC flag is great.
Those who disagree will likely change their mind when you look at the flag in the perspective it was intended to be looked in, or, they are a dingbatter from outside NC and I don't care about their opinion on our flag anyways.
I saw some of the suggested "new flags", I did like one of the light house flag designs, and would like to see it incorporated by a group/organization in North Carolina, although I wouldn't want it to replace the NC flag. It's vibes remind me too much of the flag of Washington State, and NC is not Washington.
Give us what we want: a pig on the flag.
I have a "Celebrate Barbecue" beer glass with the flag's NC and star inside a pig, that would work
That is a sentence I never thought I’d read.... but here we are!
Check out the Wilkes County seal/flag. Presumptuous: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilkes_County,_North_Carolina#/media/File%3AWilkes_County_Seal.png
And they may have it a little wrong. When I searched for its meaning, the only phrase that came up was "Imperium in Impero".
I dig the flag. I guess the two college students could have been in an endless TikTok worm hole instead. Time better spent? Maybe not.
This flag design ignores every guideline from the OAAA (Outdoor Advertising Association of America), but then there were no billboards at the time, of course. Still, one important guideline is, "Set the design at the end of a long hallway, then find out whether you can easily read it from the other end of the hall." I used to instruct my graphic designers to get up from their computer screens and try to read the message from waaaaay across the room before sending it out for approval. Whenever I did this for the first time, they often looked at me like I had horns and one eye.
All it takes is one look at their ideas, and it's very easy to just throw this whole premise on the trash pile. These guys stink at what they do and should find another line of work.
“First in Cheerwine!” Or “Best BBQ” or both.
That said, Wales has the best national flag. NC doesn’t have a dragon (don’t go down the rabbit hole on NC Dragons, Grand or otherwise), but we do have a variety of animals and plants (as say Lebanon’s tree).
The most unique plant to NC is the Venus Flytrap! Release the license plate (Sen Rabon) and put a version of that image on the flag!
Non sequitur: How do you get this newsletter if you don't use email
This is a wild mashup of worlds. Paul was my thesis advisor in grad school. Though I doubt he remembers me - I was a thoroughly unremarkable grad student.
PS, I use the substack RSS feature for you, Charlotte Ledger, and The Food Section.
Twitter in this case. And maybe Mastodon (I can’t recall if I’ve seen you there).
No way do we need a new flag. I can start a list of PLENTY of things that we do need. A flag wouldn't even make the top 100.
From an out-of-towner: “Bojangle's is the first thing that comes to mind for NC. Keep it yellow and red, with blue and white highlights.”
If you are looking to find a great source to buy your state or American flag or make your own - look no further than Hillsborough NC and Carrot-Top https://www.Carrot-Top.com
What a coincidence the Bern, Switzerland flag link is hosted on matthewdicks.com....
And it's SFW!
The (great) CGP Grey graded all the state flags in a video a few months ago. I wonder if the students were inspired by his video or if there has been a lot of discussion about the flag in general that he picked up on? He’s from North Carolina but currently lives in London.
https://youtu.be/l4w6808wJcU
CGP Grey weighed in on ALL the state flags a while back...ours was...meh. https://youtu.be/l4w6808wJcU
Honestly, I've always liked the "N ★ C", even if two of those three marks are objectively letters they have a very non-letter vibe, y'know? That said, the Guilford Courthouse flag is my favorite of our "yeah that probably didn't happen either" Revolutionary War-era legends and I think it'd be cool to have a design based on it
Maybe they could do something about the state seal while they’re at it. Why is that woman holding up a worn out broom?
It's actually a liberty/Phrygian cap on the end of a pole, not a broom. (As to why they chose to stick the hat on top of a pole instead of having her hold it, I have no idea.)
I'm fine with changing the colors and layout and getting rid of the star. But it should keep the NC and the dates - just as long as they change the May 20th, 1775 date to May 31st, 1775 for the Mecklenburg Resolves.
I came here specifically to comment that this article is blasphemy, the NC flag is great.
Those who disagree will likely change their mind when you look at the flag in the perspective it was intended to be looked in, or, they are a dingbatter from outside NC and I don't care about their opinion on our flag anyways.
I saw some of the suggested "new flags", I did like one of the light house flag designs, and would like to see it incorporated by a group/organization in North Carolina, although I wouldn't want it to replace the NC flag. It's vibes remind me too much of the flag of Washington State, and NC is not Washington.