#flag change

This is the new design of the Maine state flag that will be voted on by the public in November!

Personally, I feel that this design will be spectacular flying across a state that has become a second home to me as I've been living in the Portland area for work this summer. I can safely say that if I was registered to vote in Maine I'd be thrilled to have this as my official state flag. I only hope it passes this coming fall. It's been interesting seeing all of the various 'pine tree flag' designs that several members of the community had made. While I didn't see all of the submissions, just this specific design being worked on, I'm told that many of the submissions will be made public for viewing.

I'm not the biggest fan of the fact that the green is two-toned, an opinion I held in the final drafting meeting, but I believe that it may grow on me. It's a nice touch that will be visible up close and look nice on TV broadcasts while not being distracting from a distance. And from a distance you'll still be able to tell that it's a green eastern pine tree. I like the asymmetrical tree, it’ll stand out a lot. The background color, which is called ‘buff’ is also distinct and should look great at a distance.

The design prompt was to base the modern flag on the 1901 pine tree design. And the panel of Maine judges went through a lot and I mean a lot of design configurations for the pine tree. They were happy with this one, the Maine Secretary of State was happy with this one, and NAVA was happy with it after we redesigned the tree several times.

I'm excited to say that I was a (very small) part in the final drafting process this past Sunday (Aug. 4, 2024) with the designers and more experienced NAVA members. In attendance was our amazing Secretary Ted Kaye, and the Maine Secretary of State: honorable Shenna Bellows, and the designer Adam Lemire, among other vexilographers. I'm happy I can finally talk about this publicly, even a day not talking about it drove me crazy.

As I was present for the final drafting meeting, for any interested in more details can send me an ask or reblog and I'll respond as best I can. I won't have all the answers seeing as I'm not exactly the most senior member of NAVA, but also consider this as a general blog AMA.

With a new Olympics upon us, I've been keeping my eyes peeled for interesting flag events and accidents. But I also get to talk more about the Kyrgyzstan flag change!

THERE IT IS! For the first time, I and probably most of the world, have seen the new Kyrgyz Republic flag in the wild, on a flagpole, actually flying.

From what I've seen, all of the Olympic uniforms that carry the Kyrgyz flag also use the updated version of the national flag with the straightened sun rays.

Wikipedia has also updated the Kyrgyzstan page and related pages with the new design, so this design really is going forward at full force.

While the nature of the flag change was not the most democratic event in recent flag-design changes, many Kyrgyz citizens were strongly against the change and related expenses, I'm happy to see the Kyrgyz athletes and their enthusiasm while they wave this new flag of their nation and represent their people in the Olympic Games.

I'll probably end up making a long post of flag related trivia and goofs that the French commit because they've already screwed up with hoisting the Olympic banner upside down in the opening ceremony.

Well, it looks like I made my account at the perfect time, as I have some interesting news coming out of central Asia from TODAY

The Kyrgyz Republic's parliament has met and passed a bill that they're going to begin the process of possibly changing their NATIONAL flag, from what I understand. This is massive, even if Kyrgyzstan is a small nation with a small population, a nation changing the main symbol that represents themselves on the world stage is huge, and more than likely will take years for all organizations all over the world to replace the old with the new should the alteration go through.

Above is their current flag, which everyone probably knows as "X-box Land" from memes and internet culture.

Thankfully, the 'X-box' logo is staying, and the the proposed plan will simply straighten the rays coming from the sun so that it appears more like a sun, rather than a sunflower as many people see it as.

The far left is the current flag. The middle is the new proposition that is most likely the top contender if a change is made. The third flag is a proposed variant with darker colors.

The main concern by certain politicians within Kyrgyzstan is that the cost of this small change will not be worth the billions of dollars to change over the official national flag. Replacing hundreds of thousands of flags on government buildings, military vehicles and equipment, press to spread the word of the change is going to cost a ton of money, money that Kyrgyzstan might not be able to spare.

A change of decoration is in order! 

Omnisexual - Romantic/sexual attraction to all genders. Gender can play a significant role in their attraction.

So this is new. I’ve been using the term pansexual for a few years now. And pansexual is very similar to omnisexual. But lately I’ve been thinking on it. And while YES I think all genders are attractive, the above statement is very true for me, as opposed to pansexual’s definition of gender NOT playing a role in attraction. But I’m still standing under that bi umbrella! 

Kudos to the linked IG artist for making lovely infographics to help us all better understand these things. They helped me put the last puzzle piece in place! Will this be my last flag change? Who knows! But this term makes me happy, and right now, I identify with it.