Flag reform was a mistake 

The saddest thing about the Minnesota flag is the original version of the winning flag design had a great balance of minimalism and character, but they took out the green and white stripes, ruining the color scheme, and made the star much less distinct

No matter what we think of flag reform i think we can agree that New Zealand should have opted to change their flag to the "Kiwi with laser beams shooting out of its eyes" design

I hate the whole "child should be able to draw it" rule because flags with more complex symbols are so much more memorable like 🇧🇹🇦🇱🇮🇷🇲🇿

I think it’s worth noting that the final design we got wasn’t the design people like CGP Grey were hyped up for, the big box of teal used to be a decent looking tricolor of a nice teal, dark green, and white, and the star was more distinctly shaped with alternating thickness. They took a decent minimalist design and reduced it even more, and when you reduce past the minimum, you’re just lacking.

I'd say, as an European, that the kinda synthwavesque vibe these redesigned flags have, with their pastel colors and their geometrical forms, is very distinct and very different from the flags we got in Europe. Even more modern city flags in Europe tend to not go at all in this direction : you often get bright and contrasting colors, and most of the time a plain one color field with a complex symbol with many curves, details and/or colors, inspired by historical coats of arms. Look the French cities of Arles, Douarnenez, Lille or Coulommiers modern flags/emblems, you'll find them very different from those new American flags. And of course most city flags in Europe are traditional, only a handful have been modernized.

I think it's saying something that many of the US' most beloved state flags are the ones that overtly break NAVA's rules. California's state flag has text on it and South Carolina's has a complex design of a tree. Yet travel for a few moments through either state and you'll see how popular both of these visual symbols are among their populace.

I feel like there was justified backlash to minimalist brand logos, but now everyone's just embracing flag minimalism without seeing any parallels.

I think a lot of these problems could be fixed by people remembering that the good flag bad flag "Rules" are just guidelines. They're meant to make an alright flag. Not great, not terrible. If you want to make a great flag, you need to know when to break them. The guidelines should be a sense check, not a checklist, and flag designers need to remember that when drawing. That said, Utah's new flag is good.

I'm mad at this because the reason I joined the "flag reform movement" was to make flags not only look better, but to make each state flag more distinct from one another. Sure, California's flag breaks the rules, but it's iconic and incredibly distinct. Same thing with Washington State, all because of that green background. I'm also mad because the winning design for Minnesota WAS unique and had character to it with the tricolor bands on the fly, the inverse triangle in the hoist (a unique feature we haven't seen on nearly ANY other flag) and the north star with it's changing thickness. The pure blue fly and equilateral star made something once distinct now bland, uninteresting, and boring to look at. Less may be more, but too much less leaves you with nothing at all. It looks like a flag designed by comittee, which it was. Minnesota does not deserve something that bland and boring, nor something as indistinguishable as the old flag. We had something good imo, and somehow we snagged failure from the jaws of success.

Minnesotan here. The dude who won the flag competition honestly nailed it. Lots of other incredible submissions. The state committees edit of the flag was stupid and I hate it.

Coming from a Minnesotan, the new flag just screams "compromise" to me

As a native Utahn, I will say that our mountains are a tremendous point of pride for our people, and even if they were on 49 other state flags and DC, we would still be proud to have them on our flag. It’s not about the opinion of outside observers like you or CGP Grey, a good flag should be meaningful to the people who live there. The new flag is something that many of us are already identifying with much more than our old blue bell flag, which is only traditional in the sense of it being something that the Utah government and no one else has been using for its entire lifetime. The beehive and mountains are symbols that are far more relevant and traditional than any seal could ever be to us. Sorry for reposting this a couple of times, I was having some account issues.

As someone from Maryland I like your argument about culture mattering more than simplicity. Every mall has a "MD Flag" merch store, but not really because of just the flag being cool but also bc it's a point of state pride

I’ve always loved the flag of Rhode Island where I’m from. It’s recognizable, unique, simple and meaningful. But Good Flag Bad Flag would insist that having the word “hope” and a non-abstract picture of anchor are terrible sins

What gets me about the Minnesota flag is that they had a really nice design, but threw it away when they ditched the triband for a solid ice blue. It's still better than the original, but will forever be a reminder of what could, and should, have been.

I am A Canadian who works on the sea. The Canadian Maple Leaf flag does little for me on land but I find it impressive at sea while flying from a ship. I’d almost say that flags were born for the sea.

As a Louisanna (the ones with the best seal state flag) I find myself in a more centrist viewpoint. I think modernizing flag design can help states feel more distinct from one another and represent their modern cultures much better. But god the number of ‘Blue flag with mountains and rivers’ is absurd, it basically falls back to the same problem of flags being undiferengable but for an entirely different reason. If Louisiana were to have a flag redesign it should include a mix of all the iconic parts of the state. The Mississippi river, steambot, jazz, seafood, etc. And all of which should only have the three iconic Purple, Gold and Green colors to represent Mardi Gras. Making the new flag these boring flat ‘abstract’ blue flags would be a total failure in my opinion. Tldr; Flag design should be colorful and wacky without being cluttered

I feel like the most important things to consider when designing a modern flag should be: 1. Aesthetics: is it visually compelling? 2. Personality: is it unique, or at least made with a bit of a personality; is it memorable? 3. Representation: does its design reflect something about the place it is meant to represent? Even if I may not personally like it, if a flag can check these three boxes, then I can respect it. A great example of this is the Maryland flag, which I personally hate, but it is nonetheless a very striking and memorable flag, and I can see why some people like it. My personal favorite is the New Mexico flag. But either one of these deserves a lot more respect than messy kitchen sink flags, the boring state seal flags (you can have a seal and you can have a flag, but why have a flag if it's just going to be a picture of your seal?), and these spineless redesigns which while inoffensive, aren't really likable either.

The appearance of US state flags *at a distance* is very important. Traveling across the country it's always exciting to see a new state flag that is distinct, flying beside a capitol building, an office park, or even a shopping mall.

2014 JJ: "Anime is a mistake." 2023 JJ: "Flag Reform is a mistake." How times have changed 😢

The flags that people like are the ones that are distinctive, even if they aren't the simplest design: Maryland has a somewhat complicated flag, but people love it because you can't mistake it for anything else. It's the easiest way to say "Maryland" with a design. The problem with "seal on a bedsheet" design is that it's very difficult to tell one seal from another, especially at any kind of distance.

Good example of that saying "You must first master the rules to know how to break them"

Ted Kaye himself doesn't apply the 5 principles dogmatically and unthinkingly. The "Good Flag, Bad Flag" booklet has a section where Ted Kaye approves of flags that break his rules because they ultimately look good, but CGP Grey and others disapprove of these same flags as violations of the rules.

I'm quite happy with Maine's new state flag with the blue star, pine tree, and yellow background. I really think it stands out from other flags and find everything about it quite appealing. It's also a bit funny that it's actually based off of the state's original flag before being turned into so called "seal on a blanket." I do think states and city's of North America should try to more attractive flags, but I don't think we should eliminate all character from them. California's state flag is an example of one that should technically be considered "too complicated" for these new minimalist standards, but anyone arguing for a change of that would be missing the stellar design that is that flag. So there is a happy medium here; not the "seal on a blanket," but also not the new Minnesota flag.

This whole thing with flags is basically the "Nooo don't turn me into an oversimplified minimalist logo!" meme where basically all character in a flag's design gets erased in favour of bland, overly minimalistic designs. This is why I think mississipi's flag redesign is basically perfect, its simple enough to be a good flag but still keeps enough complex details like the flower to make the flag unique and stand out

Can I just say I discovered the Art Deco inspired flag of Lincoln, Nebraska. Beautiful. From 2021 and nearly justifies this flag reform madness.

You know what? This all builds even more respect for the new Mississippi flag for doing something a bit out there and breaking a few rules and creating something equally (if not more) aesthetically pleasing.

I think the main thing is whether the people like their flag. Most people don't care about or fly their seal based flags. If they do like their seal flags then it is good

Its weird how the supposed solution to getting rid of generic and unoriginal seal on a bedsheet flags is to make an even more generic and unoriginal flag with the exact same simple ruleset as other flags.

Minnesota’s new flag is the best example of this sentiment, because the vast number of submissions were fun and unique. Many designed a flag with a loon (their state bird) and they were the most well beloved submissions. If one of those was chosen it could have reached the popularity and legacy of something like California, but they went with the safe and sterile option instead, what a shame.

Ok. As an American resident, the Minnesota flag has just as much meaning as the other, and people are proud about it. The shape on the left is a stylized rendition of the state of Minnesota and it represents its night skies. The star represents its motto, “L’étoile du nord” or North Star. The light blue represents the states waters.

I hate how people refer to these types of things as “flag rules” as if it’s objective in any way, when in reality it’s more or less subjective principles

I think the main problem with these redesigns is that most of these new flags look like they could be the flag of about 300 cities across the country. Most of them do not use recognizable symbols, they use generic ones. Some great flags like Canada or Israel conform to the 5 Principles, but they're not generic at all. They're unique even if they're simple. A state like Minnesota had the opportunity to use, for instance, a loon (not the laser-eye loon, even if that would be amazing) to have a very recognizable symbol that represents the state. THAT is the thing missing from these redesigns.

Came over here from that other streaming service you're on to say: you do make some valid points re: creeping mediocrity. However, as a Minnesotan, I do feel that our flag badly needed an update, and I welcome this new one. However...I want to like it more than I do. The original version of this flag had a bold tricolor that really made it stand out. The solid pale blue field they went with is cold (ok, yeah, haha, it's cold up here, except when it isn't) and makes the whole flag a boring monochrome. So, yeah, there's something to be said about forced sameness based on one guy's arbitrary ideas, but most of the new flags, including Minnesota's, are way better than what came before.

I knew I had a problem with CGPs reductive evaluation of the flags, but You put it into words. I think having too many "geometric landscapes" is worse than having too many "state seal on blue" flags. as well as showing that "good flag, bad flag" was likely the source of this.

My hometown (actually Morgan County, West Virginia) had a flag contest a few years ago. I would like to say that the result is good. But it's actually so horrendously awful that I have trouble looking at it when I walk by the courthouse. It's literally a map of the county with three towns labeled on it, except one of the towns they chose to label is inexplicably a random ghost town that has been abandoned for decades and isn't even relevant for historical reasons

When I first saw the Japanese prefecture flags I realized that they're exactly what these modern flag reformists are looking for: simple, minimalist, but actually distinct. I think the reason they work is that they break the traditions of what flags look like by using unconventional colors and symbols that are completely unique. Some of these redesigns are taking "simple enough for a child to draw" to mean "only using shapes that children are taught how to draw in school". On the other hand, though, the way all of those flags perfectly conform to each other and look like a set works just fine for Japan, but would feel strange in a country like the US that emphasizes state independence, so isn't it weird that we're aspiring to all follow the same flag design principles at all?

As a Minnesotan I’ve never liked our old flag, it was an ugly political cartoon. The new one is simple yes but it is pleasant to look at. Unlike our old one.

Hey J.J, I’ve been on the side of making new flags for states for a while. And I’m from Minnesota when I saw the new flag I was like “what in the world” I personally think that the new flag for my state is boring and uninspiring, many of my friends have said they don’t like the flag, At one point I submitted a flag that was “to complicated with a silhouette of the state tree” During this process I have learned that a flag can be good without the “good flag bad flag”.

The thing that's bizarre to me is how this recent news with Minnesota is making people turn to the new Utah flag and also calling it bad. I voted for that flag design, and I'm so confused why people hate it so much. I think it's a well designed flag, looks unique, and properly represents our state. I really hope that backlash against flag redesigns doesn't lead to actually good flags getting turned back to old versions indiscriminately.

Can’t wait to see the cage match between JJ and CGP, the Flag Cinematic Universe is getting nuts

I may be in the minority, but the new MN flag has actually grown on me. After seeing it fly against the sky, it's very easy for me to associate it with the cold, the water, the northern location, etc. It also just reminds me of all of the clean nature MN has. It has (although initially I didn't like it) grown on me.

JJ's flag takes are not always correct but they are also never copy-pasted from NAVA or any other "authority." Art is subjective, looking good is subjective, different people and communities will find different symbols striking and affecting. Hence why it's so refreshing JJ has developed his own taste in flag design.

I think the old Cedar Rapids flag is cool for being designed by a high school student and looks fine to me

It's funny how people are so up in arms about soulless, minimalist corporate logos, but they embrace the exact same design style when it comes to flags.

The new Minnesota flag breaks another flag rule by having blue on blue. Many of the proposed or adopted new flags break the heraldic rule of metals, where colors need separation from “metals” of white, yellow, grey, or black.

My biggest issue has been these terrible colors for the new designs and less the shapes. But ultimately few of the new designs feel like real, tangible flags. Like nobody got cloth and a sewing machine and created a banner. They all feel designed on the computer and will be printed on a sheet of plastic. I don't like stylized landscapes on the flags either. It's one step down from putting a map on the flag which itself is only a step down from printing the state's name on it.

Minnesota's new state flag begs the question: did Minnesota adopt a new flag or did it secede and become a newly independent Pacific island country?

J.J. discussing the states flags with as much seriousness and political commentary as any of his other political videos will never not be hilarious

Having an aesthetically pleasing, simple flag doesn't automatically mean it is recognizable and universally beloved. I personally really like the Colorado flag, but that doesn't mean its immediately recognized as a symbol of Colorado and it doesn't mean people even outside of Colorado love it.

As someone that grew up in Mexico te idea that a child could draw it from memory seemed really arbitrary to me since in kindergarten up to grade school they would have us draw the flag, sometimes freehand sometimes from a template, and the fact that it wasn’t a perfect recreation of it never seemed to discourage anyone. I also feel that this trend is part of a greater aesthetic trend in public spaces that states since beauty is subjective might as well make symbols as minimalistic as possible to offend the least amount of people, but they tend to become bland and uninteresting. It’s like the flag equivalent of brutalist architecture, all function little form

I think the problem is taking the so called "rules" precisely as that, as rules, instead of basic guidelines from which you can build upon. In my opinion, mountains and stars made from geometric forms is just as lazy as state seal on navy blue. The problem isn't the guidelines for good flag design, the problem is taking them too dogmatically and as an excuse for lazy and non-distinctive designs

Holy shit. I started with "Oh, JJ is just being contrarian as usual, outright admitting that he's no longer in favor of something just because it became popular" - but I'm actually halfway convinced.

Hey JJ: As your neighbor to the south in Bellingham, WA, speaking anecdotally of course, I think the fact that Bellingham has such a beautiful and unique flag really stirs up a lot of local pride. You see the flag everywhere; in shops, cafes, atop buildings, on hats and shirts and car bumper stickers and beer koosies. It’s pretty sick and I think it’s a good example of how having a unique flag can really invigorate a city.

They took an interesting design with the three colours that actually meant something and then just... Sucked the life out of it.

A lot of the new state flags *are* boring, but Utah’s new flag is absolutely fantastic. Love it, 10/10

i think the Utah and Mississippi flags are both fantastic! They are simple enough but very distinctive.

As a Minnesotan I am disappointed in the new flag design we could have done so much better

I'm from Minnesota born and raised and the flag (old or new) is something I haven't bothered forming any type of worthwhile opinion worth commenting.

Many of the most popular flags are simple. The Texas flag is fantastic, and how complicated is that one? Same for Canada, Switzerland, Japan, etc.

12:54 This “North Haverbrook” flag made me laugh so unexpectedly. The fact you managed to tie in such a cultural force as a Simpsons reference, into a discussion about flags (which the fans of those respective communities have significant overlap) felt like such a serendipitous inside joke that I nearly fell over. “North Haverbrook’s flag put them on the MAP!” Such a clever joke that still managed to encapsulate your argument. I tip my hat to you sir.

9:00 Australia's flag is, to most outsiders, nearly identical to their closest neighbor, New Zealand's flag. This is a poor example for the point you're trying to illustrate. Furthermore, the Australian people, to my knowledge, identify most heavily with the green and gold color pallet. Australia's flag is one of the easiest and clearest examples of a flag that should be changed. As my opinion, of course.

I think good flag design is how good of an icon it is. I think there are a few ways a flag can be iconic: brandability (how transferable it is to other mediums), how well it communicates the thing it's representing, how easy it is to parody, and public awareness (not a design feature, but one of the most important qualities in howit will be percieved). It's like album art. American Football's self titled album isnt particulary special, but it's easily parodied, it communicates what it represents (midwestern teenage angst), and the thing it represents is well known. Pink floyd's Darkside of the Moon doesnt commincate much, but it has high brandability and the the thing it represents is a popular and beloved thing to many people. Looking at it with this criteria, the Gadsen Flag is a great flag because it's brandable, can be reconstructed in different ways (i.e parodied), it communicates the idea of what its supposed to represent (aggressive individualism), and libertarianism is also a well known ideology. Another good flag is California's flag. It doesn't communicate much, but it has everything else. Colorado's is also good in that it'd brandable and is it's ingrained in the public consciousness since colorado is a popular state to travel to. Minnesota's design is brandable, but it's not distinct enough to be parodied, it doesnt communicate anything about the state, and Minnesota doesnt have enough clout to push the design into the general consciousness like Colarado does.

I actually really love the new Utah flag :) I also find it unfortunate that you've never mentioned Oregon's double sided flag. As an Oregon resident, If we ever chooses to do some sort or "redesign" I hope we just get rid of the Oregon seal and use the Beaver back side!

It reminds me of when they covered up all the beautiful old buildings in the 60s and 70s with plaster, destroying their individual beauty, and making every small town that "beautified" during those years look like a brutalist wasteland.

Mississippi’s flag change was a genuine improvement and one most Mississippians seem to love. It removed connections to a symbol of hate and created an entirely unique flag that didn’t focus on oversimplification and is directly tied to the character of the state. Prior to the change, seeing the Mississippi Flag flown was a controversial rarity, now it’s widespread and everywhere.

i'm all for the CGPGrey vs. JJ beef on what counts as a good flag!

"Timid conformity with somebody else's rules in desperate plea to be liked" So the new flag does represent the spirit of Minnesota.

Provo native here. I know our old flag has special meme status boosting its popularity, but the new Provo flag is so forgettable and feels like it belongs in a travel brochure, and not as a symbol of my city. In the redesign they also quoted all the principles of flag design, and I can't help but think they snuffed out something unique about our city. We're seeing a real flattening of flag designs, and I miss the folk-artsy (or in Provo's case, mspaint) flags that are so often being replaced.

I've lived in Minnesota for over 30 years. No one flies the old flag. People dont really miss it. Its fair to not like the new flag, but its funny when Minnesotans say they liked the old flag when I've never seen anyone flying it outside of their front door like they do with the US flag.

Utah and Mississippi are alright, but Minnesota kinda fucked up with the modification of the winning design

A child being able to draw a flag strikes me as similar to the idea that we shouldn't eat things containing chemicals we can't pronounce. In other words, extraordinarily irrelevant.

Why do Canadians almost never talk about Canada?

As someone who’s from Fairfax County, Virginia, what I like about our county flag is that while it includes the County’s Seal, it also has multiple bright colors. The circle border around the seal is Orange while the main background is cyan (light blue) and the flag has a Yellow Border. The seal itself also includes Orange, Yellow and Grey. I feel like this Flag has a great use of color that makes it distinct from other “Seal on a Backdrop” flags.

As a new York resident I hereby confirm that I am indifferent towards our flag

It's definitely gotten to the point where it feels more like a pop culture trend headed by people with flag obsessions than a utilitarian pursuit. Like when vexillological societies insist on assigning flags to nations and empires that didn't historically have flags...

There's a reason why Pocatello is such a meme, even outside of vexillology circles. This kind of flag is so ridiculous it should have never been replaced.

Milwaukee resident here! We decided to remake our flag ourselves with no external influence, the old flag was ugly as hell and a movement to change it emerged naturally because *people in milwaukee* decided to. All this vague gesturing about places being bullied into making more generic flags seems pretty unfounded and I've yet to see any evidence pointing towards that actually happening. And, to be frank, it'd be a pretty hard stance to take if someone genuinely wanted to argue that the new milwaukee flag isn't distinct and instantly recognizable if you've spent more than like a week here.

I'm a minimalist and I typically like oversimplification of logos, but even I think this flag reform has gone a bit insane. Yes, the tricolor is a well made design that perfectly encapsulates "flag" but utterly loses all meaning. I find it insane that companies simplify their logo a little and still keep their spirit sparks outrage, yet an entire flag simplifying to practically nothing except some shapes is good?

i think the proposed new flag that had the 3 sections of different colors was so much better than this one. i do think the minnesota shape is clever, though! And i do definitely prefer the new flag to the old one.

the thing about bland flag designs is that uniqueness is often, though not always, niche. A politician's job is to represent and please all, or at the very least the large majority of its constituency, therefore when a number of flag designs are submitted, some being far more unique than others, it's hard as a lawmaker to choose one that everyone would love, so going with a bland design is a surefire way to please everyone. It's like having gourmet, specialty items at a buffet: it will be appreciated by some but the majority hates it, so you get McDonalds which won't *actually* please anyone but will be satisfyingly acceptable for all.

In my opinion the best flags follow the good flag bad flag rules, but break one of them in a key way that makes it unique. Maryland follows all the principles except for the "simple enough for a child to draw from memory" one, which makes it stand out.

This really is starting to remind me of the switch from skeuomorphism to flat web design, or traditional architecture to modern architecture, these things not being inherently bad but if used too much can lead to everything feeling a little samey and formulaic

Minnesota used to be okay with unique, corny, ugly, weird or creepy characters and symbols--Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, the scowling Red Owl, Fairchild the State Fair Gopher, to name but a few. But the Twin Cities have a long history of being belittled by other big cities around the country for being too backwoods/folksy to be taken seriously. Maybe this has something to do us with wanting to adopt a more contemporary blend-in-don't-stand-out flag and image as a state.

The flag of Minnesota is basically just the seal with a blue background just like certain states’ flags. To me, I think the redesign is better.

I don't understand why they decided to remove the tricolor from the proposed Minnesota flag. It was a really great flag design. But now it's so over simplified and bland.

As a non-american, the first time I've seen the new Minnesota flag my mind went "he he, pacman flag" because of the shape on the left side (I think the technical term is "hoist side", since the wind can always blow in the other direction, but what do I know, I'm not a vexillologist) and I will forever know it by this name unless other flags decide to copy this design with yellow and black to usurp the title. So in that regard, this flag IS unique and recognizable, even if it's very simplistic. More generally, of all the state flag redesigns I've seen so far, I think all of them were good, and definitely much better than the ones they were replacing, but not because of any set of rules other than those I subconciously hold in my head that dictate my subjective opinion. The treatment of the "good flag-bad flag" rules as unbreakable, as if they were the 11th-15th commandments given by God himself or something, is rather stupid and heavily limits creativity. I especially hate the first rule, since some of my favorite flags incorperate very elaborate, traditional patterns (Belarus, Turkmenistan, etc.) or imagery with significant meaning to the people who fly it. I do beliebe that the "seal on a blue beadsheet" style of flag is not good, not because it's a complex image that a child can't draw but because I can't, for the life of me, distinguish them from one another unless they add the name of the state itself in bold, all-capital letters, at which point you might as well remove the seal and write the name in caligraphy like the Saudis or something... Hell, if each state picked a different color for their background it would've been fine enough! It's why I find Delaware, New Jersey and Washington's flags to be much better than the other flags of this style. Wyoming's is good too. The seal can be a an unrecognizable blob and I'd still recognize them. That's also why I do agree that all the "mountains and stars" flags are very unimaginative and just replace one problem of undistinguishable designs with another. Let seals be seals, let flags be flags, and if you really want to put your seal on your flag then at least make a good flag and THEN put your seal on it instead of just adding a blue rectangle around the seal and call it a flag. If your flag isn't good enough without the seal, it isn't good enough with the seal included.

As a life long Minnesotan, but I can confidently say that I have not once thought of the old flag and I won't think of the new flag. Perhaps you are right. A flag designed by committee has resulted in a stake flag. Rather than a new symbol that everyone can appreciate.

Out of all the recognisable flags you could have picked... why pick the Australian one, which most amateurs would never be able to distinguish from the New Zealand flag? Also, as a Dutch person it's rather amusing to hear the Netherlands described as "one of Europe's oldest civilizations", when in fact we're just about the only part of Europe that has no noteworthy material culture from before about 1300 when the land reclamation began seriously. (Although this does not apply to the east and south of the country, but those parts have not been the cultural centre of the country ever since it has been a state).

I think you nailed the entire idea of this video within the first 15 seconds, specifically "the evolution of your own thinking." Kaye made his rules, which CGP Grey then parroted as dogma and people seem to blindly follow. Part of this is because while he is a fairly knowledgeable guy, he seems to toe this line of presenting his opinions as authoritative and not personal (his other video on self-driving cars comes to mind), which can be very persuasive to the general audience. I personally really liked the Minnesota redesign with the river and clouds that looked like a loon, but Grey says "this bad" and "tri-color good" and that alone likely influenced a lot of voters.

I'm all for more state flags with silhouettes of animals, plant life, and landmasses over weird MS paint images with text. Flags should have figurative meaning and, as a personal preference, be easily drawn by an elementary schooler.

That vexillology group and the cgp youtuber are self appointed authorities. They've used the internet to influence young people to create a movement that was mostly unnecessary. I mentioned this in an earlier video, but that point about a child being able to draw the flag is still one of the worst guidelines ever. That alone limits the artistic freedom to pretty much zero.

Thank you for this - I’m usually a fan of CPG Grey but that video really irritated me. I thought old wavy was by far the best flag out of the three, it was the most unique and memorable.

I agree that the rules are being applied too dogmatically, but the seal on the blue bedsheet states have got to change into something better. I live in Utah and I can tell you there was zero pride in the old flag and no Utahn could have drawn it or likely even described it to you if you stopped them on the street. I see the new flag being flown from houses and buildings now and I only see it as a good thing.

I generally agree that these "good flag rules" are too needlessly restrictive, especially considering that there are plenty of great flags that "break" these guidelines. However, I'm also still in favor of US states changing their SOB flag to something more distinctive, solely because I think this helps the flag to become a cultural symbol that is embraced by the locals. You'll notice that, as a rule, states that actually have a unique looking flag are typically very proud of it, while the ones that have an SOB flag, generally aren't. Take Maryland, for example, which I wouldn't say is a state with a super strong regional identity, and yet when you go there, you'll see their state flag being flown all around, and I think it's mostly just because of how unique it looks. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, you won't be seeing their flag being flown much outside of public buildings, despite the fact that they do have plenty of state pride.

There’s no need for all cities to have a flag. Why *should* e.g. Cedar Rapids have a recognisable flag? Or a flag at all, when few people could tell you even which state it’s in? That hampers other flags’ distinctiveness. One per state.

I think the next state to do a flag re-design should use a fractal image. Something that can be designed but is impossible to draw.

Flag reform is needed in some places, but there's a fine line to be drawn between "the details are too much, it's overwhelming the senses" and "the details are too little, in order to not be offensive to anyone" The same can be said with interior design, logo design and mascot design.

CGP Gray does not approve

I think you really nailed this. What’s crazy is the pamphlet itself I am pretty sure presented these principles as things they have identified that most well known flags have in common, and that they make good guidelines for designing an impactful flag, not that they are like requirements or something. The pamphlet even ends by identifying several examples of “good” flags that break the principles, and says that all rules have exceptions, just be cautious and considerate when you find yourself departing from the guidelines.