Utah redesigned its state flag. Who's next?
Why Utah's new flag could signal a transformation for state flags across the U.S.
Utah’s legislature adopted a new flag last week, replacing a longtime blue flag showing the state’s seal for a flag with a more modern and simplified design. If the experience is any indication, the U.S. could see other states redesign their flags next.
Pending a signature from Gov. Spencer Cox, Utah will become the third state to adopt an entirely new flag design in the 21st century, following Mississippi in 2020 and Georgia in 2004. The reason for Utah’s redesign, though, was different and could signal a transformation.
Mississippi and Georgia both removed Confederate symbolism from their flags, while in Massachusetts, former Gov. Charlie Baker signed a 2021 bill to change the state flag because its depiction of a hand holding a sword over a Native American is seen as a symbol of violence. The state has yet to select a new design. These redesigns are meant to remove offensive symbolism, but Utah redesigned its flag for purely aesthetic reasons.
Utah’s flag dilemma
Utah’s outgoing flag was one of 24 state flags known as a seal-on-a-bedsheet, or S.O.B. Typically, these flags show the state seal on blue, and it’s common in these states for the flags of local teams or universities to be flown more often, ceding state branding to sports. That was the case in Utah, where flags for the state’s NBA team and rival universities are popular.
“The ones you see mostly on front porches are the [University of] Utah, BYU, and the Utah Jazz,” said DeVaughn Simper, a vexillologist at Colonial Flag, a manufacturer in Sandy, Utah.
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Rather than flying flags that divide Utah by college sports loyalties, proponents of the new flag hope it will unify, but it’s taken several years to get here. Utah adopted a special commemorative flag for the state’s 125th anniversary in 2021 that highlighted the beehive, a Mormon symbol for community and industry. The commemorative flag became a starting point for a redesign process that resulted last year in 20 semifinalist designs. One showed the beehive and star inside a hexagon on a blue, white, and red mountain background.
That semifinalist design (F in the chart below) became the basis for a slightly redesigned finalist that got one last-minute edit: a traditional five-pointed star replaced the eight-pointed star meant to represent Utah’s eight Tribal Nations after a Native American constituent said the eight-point star appeared like an asterisk from a distance, which was how they said they felt in American history.
The new design received bipartisan support in Utah’s legislature and an endorsement from the state’s conservative Republican Sen. Mike Lee. Still, the change has upset some.
“It’s been very polarizing to be perfectly honest,” Simper said. “We have people calling in who are really excited and we had people call in who expressed their displeasure.”
State Sen. Daniel McCay, a Republican who represents a district in Salt Lake County, co-sponsored the flag bill. He said he’s had hour-long conversations with people who think it’s a waste of time. “What that tells you is that flags are really, really important,” he said. Despite co-sponsoring the bill, McCay wasn’t always on board with the cause.
“At one point I was in the camp that it’s a waste of time and we don’t need to spend any money or effort on it,” he said. “Now I can’t imagine not having done it.”
The evolution of state flags
The concept of redesigning a state flag for aesthetic reasons is contemporary. State flags were once considered secessionist and anti-Union because southern states adopted their own flags after leaving the Union in the lead up to the Civil War. After the war, northern states “responded to the concept of a state flag by saying we don’t need a state flag, we just fought a war over this, we have one flag and it’s the flag of our country,” said Ted Kaye, a vexillologist. When these states did need one, many adopted regimental flags for their state’s militia or National Guard, which were often seal-on-a-bedsheet flags.
Kaye, who compiled the North American Vexillological Association’s “‘Good’ Flag, ‘Bad’ Flag” about five principles for good flag design (1. keep it simple, 2. use meaningful symbolism, 3. use two or three basic colors, 4. no lettering or seals, and 5. be distinctive or be related) said he’s hopeful that success in Utah will mean other states take notice, and that state legislators will see there’s a political benefit to having a better state flag design.
“The political calculus always is should I spend my precious political capital on this issue and often politicians will say, you know, I haven’t heard anybody complain about my flag,” he said. “People want me to fill the potholes.”
The counter to this and other objections, he said, is to argue that new flags create a banner under which to rally and face bigger, more important problems. That new flags represent an opportunity for a state. Perhaps if no one is complaining about a flag, it’s because so few people notice it’s a poorly designed flag that doesn’t fly very often.
The tendency after the Civil War was to play down distinctiveness in state flag design. State flags looked alike and didn’t distract from the U.S. flag. Utah’s outgoing seal-on-a-bedsheet flag even went so far as to include the U.S. flag in its design as a symbol of loyalty to the U.S.
The potential trend to more distinctive flags shows not only how strong state identity is no longer seen as a threat to national unity, but how flags have become an essential tool in state branding. Well-liked, unique flags are marketing assets to states like Arizona, Colorado, and Texas, and following Utah’s lead, more states could one day join them.
[Previously: What eight state flags look like then vs. now]
Kaye’s advice to people who want to change their state flag is to build public support and ally with groups like the visitors bureau, chamber of commerce, and historical society, “institutions that politicians will listen to, have them on your side when you make the case.” Designing the flag is about 10% of the process, and “the rest is public relations and politics.”
“You need to work the political channel,” he said. “Don’t start by designing a new flag. The decision to adopt a new design should be a separate decision from taking down the old flag.”
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I am disappointed. You failed to mention that Rhode Island, the smallest state in the union, has the finest flag in the nation. Okay, maybe a bit prejudiced...
NOT Arizona, girlie got it perfect on the first try