In his years of experience advising on flag redesigns across the country, Kaye has seen two primary motivators for changing a state flag. Not all flags follow the same pathway to an official redesign - and not all approaches are equally successful. “People use these flags to represent their belonging to the state, not their connection to the government.”īut Kaye warned that the design case might not be strong enough to prompt a redesign. But the flag belongs to the people.” Kaye argued that a flag with a seal emblazoned on it makes it harder to fly in front of your private home. However, he notes that the seal doesn’t make much sense. “On the positive side, Washington’s got the only state flag that’s green,” he said, noting that the trees and forests of the state make the color logical. I love that flag, even though it’s an ugly flag, or a poorly designed flag.”įrom a design perspective, Kaye views Washington’s current flag as a mixed bag. I’m used to seeing it I grew up saluting that flag. And so, the same thing happens with those state flags. ![]() But she’s been looking at that baby over and over and over again. She thinks her baby is beautiful, even though it could be the ugliest baby ever. I call it the ‘ugly baby syndrome,’” Kaye said in an interview with GlacierHub. “You’re losing a flag that people are accustomed to. Now you can’t walk down the street in Bellingham without seeing the flag.”Īccording to Ted Kaye, a vexillologist - a person who studies flags - strong public reactions are simply part of the flag redesign process. But Lockhart was unfazed, recalling that the same thing happened when he put forth his redesign for Bellingham’s flag. “It made some people excited, and it made some people upset,” he recalled. His posts elicited strong reactions - clearly, he’d struck a nerve. He began by publishing his design for a new state flag on social media. In the years since, Lockhart has pushed for the state of Washington to adopt a new flag, whether the design is his or someone else’s. “Having a flag that is this pure, real version of Washington, could be seen as somewhat of a pledge to try and preserve it.” In the face of a warming climate that has caused some of the glaciers atop those mountains to have almost completely disappeared, Lockhart hopes that his flag offers a symbol of what once was, as well as all there is to save. “It’s hard to create a symbol of people and culture that doesn’t feel that at some point, eventually, it’s going to be dated.” ![]() “I really did want it to be purely geographic, so that it felt like it could stand the test of time.” Lockhart explained. Finally, atop the mountains Lockhart placed a compass rose, meant to represent the history of navigation in the Puget Sound. The triangles extend into straight lines on the right, which pay homage to the orchards and agricultural livelihoods in the eastern part of the state. On the left, five overlapping triangles represent the five volcanic mountains in the Cascades, all of which have glaciers. The flag is color-blocked in half lengthwise, with sky blue on top and forest green on the bottom, representing the state’s landscape. Left image: Courtesy of Bradley Lockhart.) ![]() (Right image: Washington Secretary of State. On the right, Lockhart’s proposed redesign. On the left, the official state flag of Washington.
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