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CerealJello t1_jb9ruwu wrote

Reply to comment by Xiubee in [Inquirer] Philadelphia’s flag is bad. Design a better one. by rndljfry

Why? I doubt most residents could pick it out of a lineup with the PA flag and surrounding states' flags. It doesn't have anything iconic about the city represented. It's unrecognizable to most people who live here and probably almost everybody not living in Philly.

The article thumbnail could have had the wrong flag in it, and I probably wouldn't have even noticed.

Conversely, I can instantly recognize the flags of Chicago, Denver, and California.

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hairlikemerida t1_jb9uy5h wrote

Philly’s flag is yellow and blue because of our original Swedish founding (the Swedish Museum in FDR Park is a great laidback day activity btw). Both PA and Philly’s coat of arms depict ships and a plough. I’d say Philly’s flag has more in common with PA’s than other cities do with their state flags.

If I didn’t know that was Chicago’s flag, I would literally never be able to guess it was theirs, as it’s incredibly generic; I think a lot of cities could use the same exact flag and say that each star represents a historical event in their own city.

Denver’s could belong to literally any mountainous city, but because it uses the same color palette as Colorado’s flag, you are able to reasonably guess it’s Denver.

California’s flag literally says California on it. If you see a version that doesn’t say California or you just see the bear, you know it’s California because you’ve seen the real flag, so you’re able to identify its separate elements. It’s also a state flag, which is a little different.

The only reason you know what they are is because you learned it previously, same with just about every piece of knowledge on this earth.

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CerealJello t1_jb9vc2w wrote

Or it's just that simple, eye catching designs are better than complicated seals which cities and states decided to put on their flags 100 years ago.

We can keep the colors and the symbols and remove the complicated bits which make it look like every other city and state seal.

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TheTaraStark t1_jbbiw2x wrote

And there are elegant ways of doing this (paying homage to what came before in a new design meant for a flag) - the Keystone Flag is a great example of this!

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PurpleWhiteOut t1_jbbxood wrote

There is a version without the seal that I see commonly flown so this isn't really an issue

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napsdufroid t1_jb9wgdn wrote

How would changing the flag have any positive impact on the city other than a few more people might recognize it? We have far more serious things to worry about.

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CerealJello t1_jb9x3rn wrote

Branding, merchandising, pride in the city. People could be wearing hats and clothing and flying flags that represent the city itself rather than a sports team.

In many cities, people wear the flag of their city with pride. We don't do that here. Instead, we wear the symbols like the Liberty Bell which would be more suited for a flag than what we already have.

"We have more serious things to worry about" is a joke. This is a flag design. It doesn't require the entire city government to stop what they're doing for weeks to create a new one. It doesn't even require much money to design and roll out a new one. Just license the design to apparel companies.

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napsdufroid t1_jb9yx95 wrote

Somehow I think you vastly overestimate how many people would wear flag merch vs. sports merch. But if you feel so strongly about it, why not spearhead a movement?

Also, I don't know what cities you visit, but I've been to Chicago at least 50 times and can count the number of people I saw wearing city flag merch on one hand. Can say the same for several other major cities.

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CerealJello t1_jba258d wrote

I'm not expecting it to be some windfall for the city or some huge change in culture. I just think the current flag is ugly and recognizable and would be extremely easy to find something better to replace it.

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napsdufroid t1_jba2nag wrote

Again, if you hate it that much and think it would be easy to replace, start a movement.

Edit: Your downvote kinda tells me you're not that interested.

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Simon_the_Cannibal t1_jba8nmz wrote

I'm here to downvote you for complaining about downvotes.

Obviously not downvoting you for complaining generally, else I'd have to do that in every thread. Have you ever posted something positive?

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napsdufroid t1_jbaa12q wrote

Wasn't complaining; just making an observation. And I complain far fucking less than a number of others on here. But you believe what you want.

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Xiubee t1_jbaiptj wrote

Because I have a strong emotional reaction to it. That seems like the only important criterion to me. I find Roman Mars’s standards for a “good” flag to be arbitrary and random. You can’t apply “objective” standards to art, which is what flags are. To me, a good flag is one that stirs its inhabitants. A lot of Roman’s rules yield dumb-downed flags that look like the designs of children. Just the idea that you can use the Inquirer tool to design a new one supports that. Who would design Brazil’s glorious flag with that? Even if I couldn’t draw it from memory to save my life, I love it. Last, maybe my favorite part is the multiracial representation of the women in the seal. That gesture by itself is beautiful to me.

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