vexillography

Proposed flag of autism acceptance

Flags

2022 Update

Graham Houser with the proposed flag of autism acceptance

Graham Houser, a special needs teacher from Oregon, printed out a real version of this flag to display proudly on the classroom wall. Other teachers loved the design and knew exactly what it meant without an explanation. Houser now uses this flag to spark discussion among his autistic students about how they see themselves. It was lovely to hear this positive update!

Proposed flag of autism acceptance

Here’s a flag design for autism acceptance, developed in conjunction with NAVA’s Flag Design Gauntlet. I’m on the autism spectrum and some autistic communities have already proposed some symbols and flag designs, so I thought I’d try an idea of my own.

This design is simple enough to be remembered by a child, yet distinct enough to be recognised at a distance. The golden infinity symbol is an existing autistic symbol representing the diversity of neurological configurations. In my flag design, the golden infinity symbol is placed within the head to make the meaning more intuitive.

The gold represents warmth and acceptance. The purple represents unconventionality. Together, the gold and purple represent hope that our differences will be understood, accepted and embraced.

I deliberately avoided the rainbow infinity symbol because it represents all of “neurodiversity” and is too broad.

Vector files available on request.

Proposed flag of Utah 2

Flags

I previously made a proposed flag of Utah in 2009 but I wanted to revisit this with my new skills. These new designs were created in early 2021 with consultation with NAVA members as part of their Design Gauntlet. Thanks to everyone who gave feedback!

Update [2022-09-26]

I have just received word from the government of Utah that my flag designs are finalists for the official state flag redesign effort! I believe designs 2b and 2c are the ones being used, although they have made some adjustments.

The current design

Current flag of Utah

The current flag scored a 3.47/10.00 in NAVA’s North American flag survey, which makes it the fifteenth worst flag in North America. In 2019, the Utah House voted to solicit potential flag designs to replace the current flag.

My proposals

Proposed flags of Utah
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Proposed flags of Australia

Flags

SUMMARY

Here are all the Australian flag designs I made over the years. Like my New Zealand flag proposals, I put in a lot of effort researching and designing these proposals. Australia has not had an official flag competition or referendum yet but I’ll be ready once it happens!

Everyone else just makes designs that look nice and symbolic to them personally. This is why they fail. Instead, I consulted real evidence for what people want and don’t want in a flag, and aimed for maximum feasibility, i.e. appealing to as much of the public as possible with their various preferences. The concepts are roughly in order from most to least feasible, based on my evidence and the popularity on Facebook and Reddit.

The Advance design (at the top) was voted the third best out of all Australian flag redesigns in public polling. I will leave it up to the reader to decide which designs are the best.

01b Australian flag design summary

INTRODUCTION

As with all design, the how and the why is more important than the what. I used the same process as my New Zealand flag designs so I’ll just summarise that here.

After that, the article lists each of my proposals.

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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 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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