Oklahoma's state flag is a mess. It has a label in a weird font and "hand" all over the place. It's a mishmash of Native American symbols with an olive branch (a decidedly non-Native American symbol) laid over the top. You see, we have made peace with these people now that we have chased them from everywhere else into Oklahoma. Too much awkward history is brought up by this flag. "We honor the people we stole this land from." I mean, it's not like we have any Union Jacks on our state flags, except for Hawaii, and I'll fix that. But first, Oklahoma!
A radical departure, you say? No! This is similar to the original Oklahoma state flag, except they had a 46 in the star, which looked stupid. Then in 1917, Oklahomans complained that their flag looked too much like the brand new communist flags people were designing all over the world. Listen Oklahoma, if you had the flag first, then the communists were ripping you off. Don't be so spineless. Also, practically all of those commie countries have collapsed, so Oklahoma totally beat them all and regained the rights to a good looking flag. Adopt this flag, Oklahoma. You're welcome.
I love it! I've always disliked the cluttered look of our flag.
ReplyDeleteOne of the nice things about the Oklahoma flag is the peaceful symbolism. The pipe is a native symbol for peace. The olive branch is a European symbol for peace, and you could say there intersection encourages reconciliation. Also the shield is purely defensive: a symbol of protection. I agree it is a clutter, however I believe it would be useful for new designs to have this focus on reconciliation. If we do not focus on reconciliation it is hard to imagine how we will ever get there. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI agree. Look at the Vermont flag. It shows on the flag a symbolism of what is important to the people of the state. With Oklahoma being given to the natives after being pushed from their homes and farms by those who thought of them only as barbarians even though this was a jealous action of the people complaining very similar to the Germans vs Jewish people.
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