Flags

Proposed flag of Taiwan / 台灣擬議國旗

Flags

The current situation / 目前的情況

Flag of the Republic of China

Flag of the Republic of China / 中華民國國旗

Flag of the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party)

Flag of the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) / 國民黨的旗幟

The current flag of Taiwan is a historical relic inherited from the Republic of China, which ruled mainland China over seventy years ago. Now it is confined to the island of Taiwan and the country is simply known as Taiwan to everybody. Moreover, it is based on the flag of a single political party, the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party). This may have made sense when Taiwan was a one-party state, but not when Taiwan is now a multi-party democracy in which the Kuomintang is just one of many political parties.

台灣目前的國旗是從中華民國繼承的歷史文物，中華民國統治了七十多年前。 現在它被限制在台灣島上，這個國家被大家簡單地稱為台灣。 而且，它是基於單一政黨國民黨（中國國民黨）的旗幟。 當台灣是一個一黨制國家時，這可能是有道理的，但是當台灣現在是一個國民黨只是許多政黨之一的多黨制民主制時，這是沒有道理的

In recent years, Taiwan has shifted towards a strong, local, independent identity, especially the younger generations. For example, a poll by National Chengchi University shows that the majority of the population now identify as “Taiwanese” rather than “Chinese”, and this is constantly rising. Also, in July 2020, the Taiwanese passport was officially redesigned to emphasise the name “Taiwan” instead of “Republic of China”. There have been many such changes from the 2000s onwards.

近年來，台灣已朝著強大的，本地的，獨立的身份轉變，尤其是年輕一代。 例如，國立政治大學的一項民意測驗顯示，現在大多數人口都是“台灣人”而不是“中國人”，而且這一比例還在不斷上升。 此外，2020年7月，台灣護照正式進行了重新設計，以強調“台灣”而不是“中華民國”的名稱。 從2000年代開始，發生了許多這樣的變化。

In light of these developments and more, some have called for a flag for the island of Taiwan itself and some have even proposed designs. However, those designs have significant flaws and none are popular. Therefore, here is my proposal.

鑑於這些事態發展以及更多事態發展，有些人呼籲為台灣島本身設置旗幟，有些人甚至提出了設計方案。 但是，這些設計存在重大缺陷，而且沒有一個受歡迎。因此，這是我的建議。

Note: My choice of designs do not necessarily reflect my political opinions.

注意：我對設計的選擇不一定反映我的政治觀點。

My proposal / 我的提案

Proposed flag of Taiwan / 台灣擬議國旗

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Proposed neutral flag of All-Ireland

Flags

The current situation

Four Provinces flag

Four Provinces flag

The island of Ireland is currently split between the Republic of Ireland in the south and Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom) in the north. Each side has their own flag, but there is no single neutral design to represent the whole of Ireland. This is a problem when there are many all-Ireland organisations and sporting-teams. Many of these compete internationally but cannot use an official neutral all-Ireland flag because no such design exists. Instead, each one uses their own ad hoc compromise design. A well-known example is the Four Provinces flag (displayed above) that just combines the individual flags of each of Ireland’s four provinces so as to represent the entire island in a disunited, clumsy and complex way.

Compare this situation with the Korean peninsula: Although it is split between North Korea and South Korea, there is a single neutral official flag to represent the whole of Korea for joint organisations and sporting teams.

Also, the future possibility of Irish unification is becoming more and more plausible. If this possibility escalates into a real scenario, the island will require an acceptable symbol that is neutral and not associated with only one side. Polls show that creating a new flag in the event of Irish reunification is the most popular option among both the public and politicians.

Therefore, here is my proposal.

Note: My choice of designs do not reflect my political opinions.

My proposal

Proposed flag of United Ireland

Proposed neutral flag of All-Ireland

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Proposed flag of Hong Kong

Flags

The current design

Current flag of Hong Kong

Current flag of Hong Kong

The current flag of Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region of China) consists of a bauhinia flower and five stars on a red field. Although this design was created by a local and contains a native flower, it was adopted under strict oversight by the Chinese government. The dominance of the colour red and the five stars, all borrowed from the Chinese flag, are a result of this. The relationship between Hong Kong and the People’s Republic of China has come under growing scrutiny, so many Hongkongers feel that their flag reminds them more of China’s power than Hong Kong’s identity and no longer represents them. Therefore, here is my proposal.

My proposal

Proposed flag of Hong Kong

Proposed flag of Hong Kong

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Proposed flag of New Caledonia / Drapeau proposé de la Nouvelle-Calédonie

Flags

The current situation / La situation présente

Flags of New Caledonia / Drapeaux de Nouvelle Calédonie

New Caledonia’s strange and controversial flag situation: The flag of FLNKS party (left) and the flag of France (right) are co-official… but there is no single flag for the whole of New Caledonia itself.
Situation étrange et controversée en Nouvelle-Calédonie: le drapeau du parti FLNKS (à gauche) et le drapeau de la France (à droite) sont co-officiels … mais il n’existe pas de drapeau unique pour la Nouvelle-Calédonie.

New Caledonia’s flag situation is bizarre by world standards. Instead of a single flag, it currently has two co-official flags, neither of which represents the whole of New Caledonia. One is the flag of France itself. The other is the flag of FLNKS, the political coalition that represents the Kanak indigenous people. This compromise was condemned as clumsy, divisive, controversial and unrepresentative. The situation was even spurned by important leaders at the time like the President of the Government of New Caledonia, the representative of New Caledonia to the National Assembly and the mayor of Nouméa. Critics pointed to the principles of the Nouméa Accord (the 1998 agreement between the French government and FLNKS) which expresses the wish for a “common destiny” for all communities. Many New Caledonians have demanded a single new flag that would express a common identity for all of New Caledonia. There have been existing proposals, but these designs are quite complex. Therefore, here is my proposal.

La situation du drapeau de la Nouvelle-Calédonie est bizarre par rapport aux normes mondiales. Au lieu d’un seul drapeau, il possède actuellement deux drapeaux co-officiels, qui ne représentent ni l’un ni l’autre toute la Nouvelle-Calédonie. L’un est le drapeau de la France elle-même. L’autre est le drapeau du FLNKS, la coalition politique qui représente le peuple autochtone kanak. Ce compromis a été condamné comme maladroit, source de discorde, controversé et non représentatif. La situation a même été rejetée par des dirigeants importants tels que le président du gouvernement de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, le représentant de la Nouvelle-Calédonie à l’Assemblée nationale et le maire de Nouméa. Les critiques ont évoqué les principes de l’accord de Nouméa (l’accord de 1998 entre le gouvernement français et le FLNKS), qui exprime le souhait d’un «destin commun» pour toutes les communautés. De nombreux Néo-Calédoniens ont réclamé un nouveau drapeau unique exprimant une identité commune pour toute la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Il y a eu des propositions existantes, mais ces modèles sont assez complexes. Par conséquent, voici ma proposition.

Note: My choice of designs do not reflect my political opinions.

Remarque: mon choix de modèles ne reflète pas mes opinions politiques.

My proposal / Ma proposition

Proposed flag of New Caledonia / Drapeau proposé de la Nouvelle-Calédonie

Proposed flag of New Caledonia / Drapeau proposé de la Nouvelle-Calédonie

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Proposed flags of New Zealand

Flags

SUMMARY

Here are the flags that I and James Fitzmaurice have designed over the years for New Zealand. We based these on extensive research, analysis of thousands of designs and comments, consulting surveys and social science research, and more. We believe our designs surpass those of the notorious 2016 referendum which was widely regarded as a fiasco – The judges had no relevant qualification or experience, the process was mishandled and the finalist designs were hated, among many other problems. Is this a product of raging narcissism or qualified judgement? For the first time, we have collected all of our designs in one place so you can decide!

I presented part of this article and the Blue Sky flag (first in the gallery below) at the 55th annual conference of NAVA (the largest flag organisation in the world), winning an Honorable Mention for the Driver Award.

01b New Zealand flag design summary

INTRODUCTION

As with all design, the how and the why is more important than the what. This article begins by describing our extensive design process. Firstly, it describes our overall methodology and guiding principle. Secondly, it lists all of the common flag design traps that we tried to avoid. Thirdly, it explores New Zealand’s national symbolism and how to effectively express it in a flag design. Afterwards, this article covers each flag design with commentary, larger graphics and construction sheets.

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Proposed flag of Michigan

Flags

2020 update

Michigan proposal flying outside Larry's house

Michigan proposal flying outside Larry’s house

Larry from Michigan reached out with a nice surprise. He sent me a photo revealing that he actually manufactured the proposed flag design which now flies outside his house! He said, “the redesign is better and the flag will stay in my family for generations. Thanks so much for the design.”

The current design

flag of michigan, usa

Current flag of Michigan

The current flag of Michigan is a typical American-style seal-on-blue-bedsheet design; as a result it is convoluted, unmemorable and uninspiring. It scored 3.46/10 in NAVA’s survey, making it the fourteenth worst flag in North America. In 2018, a state senator introduced a bill to replace it with a new design. Although nothing came of that, below is what I would have proposed:

My proposal

02 proposed flag of michigan [recoded]

Proposed flag of Michigan

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Proposed flag of Fiji

Flags

The current design

Flag of Fiji

The current flag of Fiji

The current flag of Fiji is almost unchanged from its colonial predecessor, a defaced British Blue Ensign. Since becoming a republic, the prime minister Frank Bainimarama called for a new flag design to reflect a new, genuine, confident Fijian identity without inheriting old colonial symbols. The Fijian government called for submissions throughout 2015 and 2016 but this plan fell through. This was the proposal designed by myself, James Fitzmaurice and Rachael Radhika-Hart.

Our proposal

Proposed flag of Fiji by Brian Cham, James Fitzmaurice and Rachael Radhika-Hart.

Proposed flag of Fiji by Brian Cham, James Fitzmaurice and Rachael Radhika-Hart.

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The 7 most popular New Zealand flag proposals (according to the public)

Flags

Note: This post lists the flag designs that are most popular with the general public. For my own judgement on the best proposals, see this post.

When I was thinking of designs for the New Zealand flag competition, I was curious about the preferences of the wider public. No doubt others are too. Unfortunately, polls had a limited selection of designs to begin with, and while the government gallery had social media sharing and suggestions for every submitted flag, there was no way to sort the gallery to show the most popular.

So I made a quick Java script to scrape all entries in the website and identify the most popular flags. This is measured in number of times each design was independently suggested. Ten was the minimum number to get on this list.

Keep in mind that popularity does not equal quality, nor is it a final indicator of public preferences. It is affected by many factors like age, status and prior exposure of the design. Obviously, this list is biased towards well-known older designs rather than newer designs even if they’re great. This list is simply for interest of the data itself.

Flags are listed in ascending order of popularity. Each one lists the three main points of the respondents.

7. Silver Fern Flag – Kyle Lockwood’s ‘New Zealand Colours’

Silver Fern Flag – Kyle Lockwood’s 'New Zealand Colours' Designed by: Kyle Lockwood

Silver Fern Flag – Kyle Lockwood’s ‘New Zealand Colours’. Designed by: Kyle Lockwood.

Suggestions: 13

  • Similar to current flag
  • Black and white are national colours. Silver fern is national symbol. These are already recognised worldwide and have historical significance.
  • Māori represented by black (I think this is a reference to the Tino Rangatiratanga flag which includes black?)
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