Maine’s proposed flag is very similar to one of its predecessors. That’s on purpose

[ad_1]

When voters in Maine go to the polls in November, they will have an important choice to make: whether or not to change the design of the state flag.

The proposed redesign by Adam Lemire, a resident of Gardiner, Maine, shows the official state tree, an eastern white pine, in the center of a buff field with a navy star in the upper left corner. It is his take on the famous design of the state flag that was used from 1901 to 1909. Lemire gave the tree 16 branches to represent the 16 states of the state.

The design was one of 400 submissions received by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. In a statement he said Lemire’s submission “stands out as a beautiful, faithful representation of the eastern white pine tree.” A bipartisan panel of advisers selected 10 finalists, and Lemire’s winning design will now head to a yes-or-no vote. If voters approve, Maine will have a new flag that Bellows says “honors our past and our future.”

But Lemire also didn’t have much room for creative interpretation. The law to redesign the flag was strict about what it could look like. The design brief stated that the background of the flag should be buff, the pine tree should be in the center, and the five-pointed star should be in the upper corner.

In 1909 Maine adopted its current flag showing the state’s coat of arms on a blue background, which vexillologists call the “bed sheet emblem,” to replace the previous pine tree flag. Overly detailed, seal-on-a-bed-sheet flags are now falling out of fashion. Today, states will seek out designs that can be used as symbols of popular expression and identity, such as the distinctive flags of states such as Arizona and Texas.

Several states have adopted new flags in the past few years. Mississippi introduced a new flag design in 2020, and recently Minnesota and Utah ditched their old flags for simpler designs. Simple flags adhere best to best practices from the North American Vexillological Association, although the redesign is not without controversy. Inevitably, efforts to redesign national flags face opposition from opponents, including those who view certain changes, such as the removal of Confederate symbols, as erasing history. A design issue can become political—and thus a symbol meant to unify becomes divisive.

“For symbols like our state flag to have meaning, they must unite people — they must unite us,” Republican Rick Bennett, the Maine state senator who helped select the winning design, said in a statement.

In Maine, what’s old can be new again. By reviving a famous historic symbol that better suits today’s flag design trends, Maine sets aside the power of all political landmines.