Here we have some examples of US City Flags that are just... bad. Whether due to over-complication, too much text (or text that's just too much? Looking at you Baton Rouge), or creating "SoB" (Seal on Bedsheet) flags, these cities deserve better.
Yes, I know that most of them have the city name in the picture. This is intentional public shaming.
I think my favorite part of the Milwaukee flag is that in the southwest quadrant of the gear, it contains... the previous flag of Milwaukee. I'm a huge fan of this proposed new flag .
Also, Baton Rouge is close to good. Just move the escutcheon either to center or top left, and remove that train wreck text. To quote vexillologist Ted Kaye : "If you need to write the name of what you're representing on your flag, your symbolism has failed."
I don't hate Detroit's flag. The center seal could be cleaned up or removed, but the remaining complexity is balanced by clear symbolism. I am a fan of the"Detroit Rise" flag as well, though.
Uggh, most of these flags really make me cringe. Totally agree with you on most of them, but I actually rather like Roswell's flag. The only thing that really bothers me about it is how the mountain blends into the background, but I think they made a good use of the New Mexico motif (which I'm rather fond of).
I don't know if you've seen this TED Talk, but if you haven't, you definitely should!
Roswell's flag definitely has its good parts, and I love that it incorporates its State symbology so well. It's really just the color choice that makes it problematic.
Other flags on here have similar high notes--Tampa choosing a non-rectangular shape, San Fran's phoenix icon, St Paul's simplicity--but in the end, they could use a little help. A friend showed me that TED talk right after I published these quizzes for the first time. I learned the Ted Kaye quote I referenced above after hearing Roman Mars quote it in this talk.
One of the only Ted Talks I ever sat all the way through was about flag designs. The guy almost cried talking about them. The absolute bottom of the barrel was Pocatello, Idaho. It was so bad, it was changed because of his publicity.
The escutcheon is fascinating, with a fleur de lis of France, the Castile of Spain, and the Victorian era (pre-northern-Ireland-red-diagonals) flag of Great Britain.
Milwaukee just plain-out sucks.
I don't know if you've seen this TED Talk, but if you haven't, you definitely should!
Other flags on here have similar high notes--Tampa choosing a non-rectangular shape, San Fran's phoenix icon, St Paul's simplicity--but in the end, they could use a little help. A friend showed me that TED talk right after I published these quizzes for the first time. I learned the Ted Kaye quote I referenced above after hearing Roman Mars quote it in this talk.
https://www.ted.com/talks/roman_mars_why_city_flags_may_be_the_worst_designed_thing_you_ve_never_noticed?language=en
Here's the old one: https://www.byui.edu/radio/pocatello-has-the-worst-flag-in-america
The escutcheon is fascinating, with a fleur de lis of France, the Castile of Spain, and the Victorian era (pre-northern-Ireland-red-diagonals) flag of Great Britain.