Wednesday, April 16, 2003
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Wednesday, April 16, 2003 |
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Fed up with the flag issue By MICHAEL
BOYLAN Do you know what the Oklahoma state flag looks like? Ever see New Mexico's state flag? What about Delaware, New Hampshire or Maryland's? Chances are, unless you are from one of those states, you have no idea what they look like and even then you still may have no clue. I know I didn't know anything about state flags until I started doing research for this column. I know what these state flags look like now and I know a little bit about their history, but I'm sure it will leak out of my brain sometime soon because they are simply not that important. I decided to look at the state flags of the United States because I am growing very tired of the hubbub surrounding our state flag. The pages of the state's newspapers and the airwaves of talk radio and local news are filled with the screaming, hooting and hollering of people on both sides of the issue. I feel that it is terribly divisive and unnecessary. Anyone who can consider this "healing" must have a pretty, twisted definition of the term. So, here are some facts about state flags that may be of interest. First, and perhaps most importantly, 23 states, currently including Georgia, have either their state seal or coat of arms as a feature of their flag. Even more have the state motto somewhere on the flag. A few states have Confederate emblems or symbols, including Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas. But, what some people may not realize is, Mississippi's St. Andrew's cross has 13 stars inside it to represent the 13 colonies, and while Arkansas' flag has a star to represent being a part of the Confederate states, it also has three stars underneath to represent Spain, France and the United States, representing the countries that have ruled the land. Nearly every state flag has the color blue on it, though the shades differ and for different reasons. Another common trait of the state flags is to have horizontal red and white stripes of varying widths. Some state flags like Oregon and Wyoming have their state animals on them, a beaver and a bison respectively, while others feature animals common to the region. For instance, Michigan has an elk, a moose and an eagle, while Vermont features a moose. Most state flags are fairly boring but some states, like New Mexico, have really cool flags. New Mexico's flag is red and yellow, the colors of Spain, whose people settled the land. The red sun symbol in the middle has four sets of four rays emanating from it representing the four seasons, the four directions, four times of day and four stages of life. Ohio's flag is perhaps the most unique as it has a swallowtail design, which is a deeply forked tail. Oklahoma's flag honors more than 60 groups of Native Americans that have called their state home. Alaska's state flag was designed by a 13-year-old Native American boy who won a $1,000 scholarship and a watch. So, the question is what do we do with our state flag. A big part of me says slap the state seal on it, which our current flag has, and put the state motto, which is "Wisdom, Justice and Moderation," beneath it. It may lean more towards the boring, but we could probably use the break from all the excitement of "healing." If you want to fly the old state flag with the confederate symbol on it, be my guest. Most people who like it have it in front of their homes or on a bumper sticker or a vanity plate anyway. If the flag with the Confederate symbol doesn't make it back on top of the state capitol, it's not like it will ever disappear from sight. People will always have to see it and tolerate it, but it doesn't have to and shouldn't be the official state symbol. I would recommend writing your representatives and telling them how you feel on this issue, but they have wasted enough time already. It seems as though this first legislative session was filled with state flag rhetoric, losing weight with Sonny and discussing whether it should be against the law to not serve sweet tea. We look like the stupidest, laziest state in the union and enough is enough. This flag issue should be handled the way parents handle their children fighting over a toy. If you can't play nicely with the flag, then neither of you will play with it at all.
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