Recently, we’ve seen several instances of flag changes in U.S. states, such as Utah, Mississippi, and Minnesota. This list is likely to be expanded by Maine, where residents are preparing to vote on adopting a new flag design, which won a special design competition. Although this might seem like a routine procedure, Maine’s case raises some questions.
In many U.S. states, there have been discussions about how well current flags represent their states and the people who live there. This topic has gained significant momentum in the last three years, as more and more people feel underrepresented by their states’ symbols and flag designs, many of which were created over a hundred years ago.
While Minnesota, Mississippi, and Utah held multi-stage competitions that resulted in various drafts, as the states did not place any strict design requirements, the Maine authorities issued an act that outlines how the future flag should look. This design is based on the flag the state had from 1901 to 1909, featuring a pine tree and a five-pointed star, which gave Maine the nickname “Pine Tree State.”
The Act to Restore the Former State of Maine Flag was initiated by Maine State Representative Sean Paulhus (D) and was adopted by a majority vote earlier this year. Since the general design of the future flag, including dimensions, spaces, and proportions, is specified in the act, all the submissions for the competition look similar, depicting a green pine tree and a blue or green star on a sand-colored background.
Led by Shenna Bellows, the Secretary of State of Maine, a group consisting of legislators, as well as historians and archivists, selected the top 10 designs in the first stage. Unlike previous cases, this Maine Flag Committee does not include designers, vexillologists (flag specialists), or representatives from other groups or communities. There were also no additional consultations for adjustments and optimization. Eventually, the committee selected a winning design by Adam Lamire, an architect from Gardiner, Kennebec County, Maine.
Maine’s current flag, like the old flags of Utah and Minnesota, can be considered graphically overloaded, featuring the state’s coat of arms. The composition includes a farmer and a seaman, symbolizing the state’s traditional reliance on agriculture and the sea. The central part depicts a moose resting under a pine tree. The figures are complemented by a red banner on top with Maine’s motto “Dirigo,” meaning “I lead,” and a blue banner at the bottom featuring “Maine.”
The vote on the new Maine flag will take place on November 5th, simultaneously with the 2024 Presidential Election. Local media reports that the ballot will not include an image of the flag design. In New Zealand, a similar process failed in 2016 due to a lack of public support. Procedural errors or an overly complicated voting process may have contributed to the negative outcome and the rejection of the flag design. In other respects, too, the process in Maine is quite unique, if not idiosyncratic, compared to the other U.S. states mentioned.
An open design process, in which political authorities imposed fewer restrictive specifications, could have offered the opportunity to create a truly distinctive flag design that fully adheres to the principles of good design.
Of course, compared to the current overloaded flag, the design by Lamire is simpler and, in that sense, relatively better. However, the depiction of the pine tree is too detailed and illustrative to fully comply with the principle of simplicity. A more abstract depiction of the tree, like the one used in the flag released four years ago as part of the state’s bicentennial celebrations, would make more sense in this respect.
