Walk into any state capitol building and you’ll see it. A blue sheet. A gold seal. Maybe some wheat or a plow. Honestly, most state flags of the US look exactly the same from fifty feet away. It's a sea of "S.O.B.s"—that’s vexillology shorthand for "Seals on Bedsheets." We have fifty states, yet about half of them decided that putting a complicated legal stamp on a dark blue background was the peak of branding. It wasn't.
Most people can recognize the Stars and Stripes instantly. But could you pick the Kentucky flag out of a lineup including Virginia, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania? Probably not without a magnifying glass. These flags were mostly designed in a rush around the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago or right before World War I. States wanted something to hang at the fair, so they just slapped their official seal on some fabric and called it a day. It’s lazy. It’s also a missed opportunity for local pride.
The Great Flag Renaissance is Happening Right Now
We are currently living through a massive vibe shift in how states look at their symbols. People are tired of the "blue bedsheet" era. Just look at Utah. For decades, Utah had a cluttered mess of a flag. In 2023, they ditched it for a bold, tri-color design featuring a beehive and a star. It looks like a high-end outdoor brand logo. It’s clean. It’s recognizable. More importantly, people actually want to wear it on a t-shirt.
Minnesota followed suit in 2024. Their old flag was—let's be real—problematic and cluttered. It featured a pioneer and a Native American, a scene that many felt didn't reflect the state’s modern values or its history accurately. The new design? A simple blue shape resembling the state itself and a North Star. It’s polarizing, sure. Some folks hate the simplicity, calling it "corporate," but it follows the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) guidelines perfectly. A child should be able to draw a flag from memory. You can draw the new Minnesota flag in five seconds. You couldn't draw the old one if your life depended on it.
Mississippi had to change theirs too, though for much more serious reasons. In 2020, they finally retired the flag that featured the Confederate battle emblem. The new "In God We Trust" flag with the magnolia flower was a massive upgrade in both aesthetics and inclusivity. It proved that you can have a traditional, "stately" feel without clinging to symbols of division.
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Why the "Good" Flags Actually Work
There’s a reason you see the Maryland flag on everything from socks to crab seasoning. It’s chaotic. It’s loud. It’s the only state flag based on English heraldry (the Calvert and Crossland families). It violates almost every "rule" of modern design, yet it’s beloved because it’s unique. You can't mistake Maryland for anyone else.
Then you have New Mexico. Ask any flag nerd, and they’ll tell you it’s the gold standard. The red Zia sun symbol on a field of yellow is striking. It honors the indigenous history of the region while remaining incredibly simple. It’s iconic.
South Carolina is another winner. The palmetto tree and the crescent (which is actually a "gorget" or neck armor, not a moon, though people argue about this constantly) create a silhouette that works in any color. It feels like the Lowcountry. It tells a story of the Revolutionary War defense of Sullivan’s Island without needing a paragraph of text embroidered on the bottom.
Texas, obviously, wins on pure brand recognition. The Lone Star. It’s simple, it’s bold, and it’s everywhere. It conveys an entire personality in three colors and one shape. That’s what a flag is supposed to do. It’s a shorthand for identity.
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The Problem With "The Seal"
If you have to write the name of your state on your flag, your flag has failed. Think about it. Do you see "USA" written on the American flag? Does Japan write "JAPAN" under the red circle? No. A flag is a graphic symbol. When Kansas or Montana puts their name in big block letters at the bottom, they are basically admitting the design isn't strong enough to stand on its own.
Most of these seals were designed to be viewed on a piece of paper three inches from your face. They have tiny dates, microscopic blades of grass, and Latin mottos that no one can read while the flag is flapping sixty feet in the air.
- Virginia: Features a woman with one breast exposed standing over a dead tyrant. Metal? Yes. Visible from a distance? No.
- Oregon: The only flag with a different image on the back (a beaver!). Cool trivia, but expensive to manufacture and confusing to look at.
- New York: Two ladies holding a shield. It’s fine, I guess, but it’s the same basic layout as New Jersey, just with different colors.
How States Choose a New Look
The process is always a nightmare. Honestly, it’s a miracle any new flag gets passed. You usually have a state commission, thousands of public entries, and a whole lot of shouting on social media. People get weirdly attached to the "classic" flags, even if they never noticed them before.
In Maine, there’s been a massive push to return to the 1901 flag—the one with the simple pine tree and the blue North Star on a buff (tan) background. You see the 1901 design on hats and porch flags all over Portland and Bangor. The official state flag? It’s another blue bedsheet with a moose and a tree that looks like a doodle. The people have already voted with their wallets; they want the 1901 version. The legislature just has to catch up.
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Illinois is currently looking at a redesign. Michigan has had murmurs of one for years. The momentum is moving away from complex heraldry and toward "flat design." This is partly due to the digital age. A flag needs to work as a tiny 16x16 pixel icon just as well as it works on a flagpole.
The Cultural Weight of a Scrap of Fabric
Flags aren't just for government buildings. They are for sports fans, hikers, and people who are just proud of where they grew up. When a flag is good, people use it. You see the Colorado "C" on everything from skis to beer cans. You see the Arizona sunset flag on tattoos.
When a flag is bad, it stays on the pole at the DMV and nowhere else. Nobody is getting the Pennsylvania state seal tattooed on their bicep unless they lost a very specific bet.
The move toward better state flags of the US isn't about erasing history. It's about creating a symbol that actually functions in the 21st century. It's about moving away from "government-by-committee" art and toward something that actually stirs a bit of emotion.
What You Can Do About Your State Flag
If you live in a state with a "blue bedsheet," you’re probably stuck with it for a while unless there’s a grassroots movement. But these movements work. They worked in Utah and Minnesota.
- Check out the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA). They have a pamphlet called "Good Flag, Bad Flag" that lays out the five basic principles: keep it simple, use meaningful symbolism, use 2-3 colors, no lettering or seals, and be distinctive.
- Look for "historical" alternatives. Often, a state had a much cooler flag a hundred years ago that got replaced by a generic seal. Maine’s 1901 flag is the perfect example.
- Support local artists who are making "redesign" concepts. Sometimes all it takes is a viral tweet or a popular sticker to get people talking about how boring their current flag is.
- Understand the symbolism. Even the "bad" flags usually have cool stories hidden in the seal. Knowing that the "Phrygian cap" on several state flags represents freedom can make you appreciate the history, even if the graphic design is a mess.
The map of state flags of the US is changing. Every few years, another blue sheet gets tossed into the bin of history, replaced by something bold and new. It’s a slow process, but eventually, we might end up with fifty flags that people actually recognize. Until then, we'll keep squinting at the gold seals and trying to figure out if that’s a moose or a cow on the horizon.