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Khearnei t1_jdh4xi5 wrote

Yeah nothing more badass than (squints through the JPEG) some bales of wheat and a plow.

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gnartato t1_jdhhjvj wrote

That's a nice boat though.

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Revelati123 t1_jdjs1bk wrote

With so much of the state being coastline it makes sense that half the seal would be a boat...

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vonHindenburg t1_jdhixn1 wrote

Ever use a horse plow? You will feel half dead, but entirely badass afterwards.

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Taco_Spocko t1_jdhu8y9 wrote

But wheat is what they make wheaties from, which is the breakfast of champions, and champions are bad ass, right?

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alzer9 t1_jdifxdk wrote

Hey, it’s the only flag with horses!

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Twisted_alien t1_jdhhqs2 wrote

This resolution should be against the law.

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FtheMustard t1_jdham6z wrote

Gotta get it off of the flag, though. To busy with all the small parts and all the different colors. Words don't belong on a flag. There are cool re-designed flags out there that are more simple and look dope.

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Fat_Sackney t1_jdiu7f4 wrote

Eh, PA's flag is good. It's really that every other state's blue field flag stinks and drags PA's down with them.

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FtheMustard t1_jdj0nwl wrote

It's pretty bad. Way to busy in the middle. An island of mess floating in an vast blue space. Don't get me started on the tiny words. Big no-no on flags. Philly's flag is also bad because it makes the same mistakes but has a wide vertical stripe on either side, forcing the city seal to be even smaller.

Look at places like Chicago, Denver, Colorado, and Texas. Simple designs that look clean and neat. The people of those places not only know their flag but like it enough to display it and wear it on shirts and even tattoos. They connect with their state through the flag. I bet a majority of people in PA can even identify the flag. It's a bad flag.

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[deleted] t1_jdh2ujt wrote

Never heard somebody refer to a Coat of Arms as underrated lmfao

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Mor_Tearach t1_jdh84a9 wrote

I'm not trying to be snarky ( honest ) but wouldn't we have to be familiar with the COA of other states to make the call ours is underrated ?

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Logan_Holmes t1_jdhdle6 wrote

If you’re familiar with state flags then you’re familiar with most coat of arms

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vonHindenburg t1_jdhj5rc wrote

I was curious, so I went through them. The lines are a bit blurry, but I count it as 27 flags which are entirely or substantially the state seal, 6 more which incorporate it or significant elements of it, and 17 others which are entirely different or only incorporate minor elements in a different way.

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IRTD-400 t1_jdkxh7m wrote

Congratulations, you can now understand 80% of the jokes in r/vexillology

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EMF911 OP t1_jdi454p wrote

I meant more along the lines of we don’t appreciate it or incorporate it enough as Pennsylvanians.

The Maryland people are obsessed with theirs. It’s everywhere and on every thing.

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Yankiwi17273 t1_jdi5n8u wrote

Maryland’s way more obsessed with their state flag (and rightfully so). I would honestly propose we have some variation of the Keystone flag designs. Most of the alternative state flags with just Keystones on them tend to look amazing imo

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[deleted] t1_jdhkqnv wrote

[deleted]

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witqueen t1_jdilzac wrote

My family settled in PA in 1680 when land grants were given based on how much they could walk around. Dude hoofed it because they owned a ton of land.

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enemy_of_your_enema t1_jdiutjy wrote

So what you're saying is, our coat of arms is badly out of date?

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[deleted] t1_jdiwdwr wrote

[deleted]

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enemy_of_your_enema t1_jdiz8zl wrote

I guess I'm not clear on the point of a coat of arms then, if it is designed to represent a state's values and interests at an increasingly-remote moment in time. Seems like a recipe for irrelevancy.

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[deleted] t1_jdj01di wrote

[deleted]

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enemy_of_your_enema t1_jdjx8e7 wrote

But like every state's history involves agriculture, trade, and the "actions and thoughts" of people.

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[deleted] t1_jdk6hbn wrote

[deleted]

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enemy_of_your_enema t1_jdkvk7n wrote

The coat of arms is not badass and underrated. It says nothing remarkable or special about Pennsylvania. It inspires no feelings of state pride.

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qrpc t1_jdhuh5v wrote

It's not a bad coat of arms, but coats of arms in general shouldn't be on flags.

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Quindigon t1_jdhfio6 wrote

Amazing for the Coat of Arms. Terrible for the flag.

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SmasherOfAjumma t1_jdhgeo1 wrote

What’s with the ship though? Oh, Erie I guess. And the Delaware river maybe.

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jshrdd_ t1_jdi08ab wrote

A nod to the settler-colonial origins of the state?

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axeville t1_jdi1c50 wrote

Washington DC did not exist yet but Mount Vernon was Washington's farm estate. Down the Delaware to the crossing of Delmarva, elk river to annapolis to the trail to mt Vernon. All still exists. Major Thoroughfare in colonial times. And an important port

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glitch83 t1_jdhw8tl wrote

From Wikipedia:

>The Pennsylvania coat of arms features a shield crested by a North American bald eagle, flanked by horses, and adorned with symbols of Pennsylvania's strengths—a ship carrying state commerce to all parts of the world; a clay-red plough, a symbol of Pennsylvania's rich natural resources; and three golden sheaves of wheat, representing fertile fields and Pennsylvania's wealth of human thought and action. An olive branch and cornstalk cross limbs beneath—symbols of peace and prosperity. The state motto, "Virtue, Liberty and Independence", appears festooned below. Atop the coat of arms is a bald eagle, representing Pennsylvania's loyalty to the United States.

I was about to hate on the boat given that we have no coastline when the coat of arms was first proposed (Erie was annexed iirc) but the symbols are much more interesting when explained like I was five.

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axeville t1_jdi1om3 wrote

The philadelphia navy yard would like a word

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enemy_of_your_enema t1_jdiv83t wrote

All of those things sound like they could apply to most states. We like commerce, have natural resources, and humans who think and do things? How unique! Let's put it on a flag.

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JeffHall28 t1_jdhfmfy wrote

The only part I don't necessarily like (aside from it being the sum total of our state flag) is the ship. I'm sure its suppose to be William Penn's ship but did I feel like there are more powerful symbols for his founding of the colony than his ride up the Delaware, right? I just think for a state with only 40 miles of lake front and 50 miles of river navigable by a ship like that, why are we leaning into this maritime motif? I say we replace the ship with some more significant, like a miner's pick, industrial hammer, pretzel, liberty bell, locomotive, whitetail deer, factory belching smoke, crucible in a steel mill, Quaker getting a Lenape man sign away his shit, literally anything. I would also contend that the center images should not be contained in a keystone made of riveted steel instead of some weird baroque whatever that is.

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vonHindenburg t1_jdhgsuq wrote

I think the ship has more to do with trade, as one of the sources of the state's wealth. Philly was one of the nation's major ports and centers of commerce when this seal was created and that ship would be crazy-anachronistic to represent William Penn's.

EDIT: From Wikipedia:

> The Pennsylvania coat of arms features a shield crested by a North American bald eagle, flanked by horses, and adorned with symbols of Pennsylvania's strengths—a ship carrying state commerce to all parts of the world; a clay-red plough, a symbol of Pennsylvania's rich natural resources; and three golden sheaves of wheat, representing fertile fields and Pennsylvania's wealth of human thought and action. An olive branch and cornstalk cross limbs beneath—symbols of peace and prosperity. The state motto, "Virtue, Liberty and Independence", appears festooned below. Atop the coat of arms is a bald eagle, representing Pennsylvania's loyalty to the United States.[2][3]

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randycanyon t1_jdjhglu wrote

NB that those horses are in harness -- they're farm-working horses, not just for pretty. I've always liked that bit.

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t21millz t1_jdhhkrg wrote

Yeah, the locomotive idea is great!! Get the PRR on there!

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WingedChimera t1_jdivzfl wrote

These are some wildly Pennsylvania comments. I’ve never seen a group of people try so hard to deny they’re rad. PA is my favorite state for a lot of reasons but one of them is not the utter lack of self-confidence folks have in how cool our state is.

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That_Guy682 t1_jdju36t wrote

Maryland: won’t shut up about their fucking flag

Pennsylvania: H O R S E Y

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MacMac105 t1_jdhgnq4 wrote

Any CBB fans? Calvins Triplets?

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LadyBugTango t1_jdhjedx wrote

The virtue should be replaced with life.

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PatientNice t1_jdi2tyg wrote

Graphic design back then wasn’t what it is today.

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JustVern t1_jdi6q2k wrote

My husband has this tattooed on his back including the State animals. Yes, both amphibians, too.

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spiralbatross t1_jdida7e wrote

If you look at it indirectly it looks like a Guzzlord

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Syska666 t1_jdkass6 wrote

Not on a flag tho. Can we please make a new flag

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Thoraxe474 t1_jdkf7nk wrote

I'll never forgive trash taste for giving it a D

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C00lbeans3man2 t1_jdhmo3o wrote

No its not. Its pro colonial hogwash

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