>I'd be curious to see what r/vexillology's take would be

I posted the design there first and it got a favorable response. But that didn't tell whether the people of WA would connect with it.

>Do the stars/stripes have any other meaning? Or are we cool with a rotated and recolored coat of arms as our state flag? It's a little lazy, imo.

I don't what meaning, if any, the stars and stripes had for the Washington family, but as far as my design is concerned they are solely to signify Washington the person. It's a fairly standard approach in heraldry/vexillology for a place or institution to incorporate or adapt the arms of someone connected with it. The bigger question of course is whether signifying their namesake is something that the people of WA still want their flag to do.