Many, Many Ideas for a New Virginia Flag
I hesitated a long time about designing a new flag for Virginia. After all, the state's one of several I consider a home state and, as I noted elsewhere, "my heroes have always been Virginians." Still, there's no way around it, Virginia's flag is a seal on a blue bedsheet, just like so many of the others (image by the indomitable Mario Fabretto from the FOTW Flags of the World web site):
Plus, Virginia's seal was designed, as I understand it, by a committee chaired by my hero, George Mason, and the symbolism and motto — Thus always to tyrants! — is a coolly libertarian one. Finally, the flag was adopted back in 1861, which means it precedes most, if not all, of the other seal-on-bedsheets designs, and so at least showed, at the time, a bit of originality.
Still, principles are principles and bad design is bad design. So here are four ideas I came up with as alternatives:
All four designs feature the St. George's Cross, representing England, which, of course, settled Virginia and governed it until 1776. The blue and grey colors recall that Virginia was the principal battlefield in the War Between the States, as well as the place where the post-war era began, following Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Also, grey and blue are the colors of Virginia state-police cars, while blue and white are the primary colors on the current flag.
The two bottom designs also have white borders, which recall the similar border on the flag of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. I recognize that this might be too much Confederate symbolism for some people, but I simply offer it as an option. I just want to be a blessing.
I recognize, too, that this entire design might be too backward-looking for politicians and citizens focusing on the alleged dynamism and drive of "the New Dominion." But these are my designs and I'm stickin' to 'em ... at least until I come up with some others.
