Maine state flag preference?

Portlander

Portlander

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Voters will decide in November on which flag they want to move forward with. The top option was reveled today as a potential replacement for the bottom one that has served the State of Maine since the year our friend Mark was born. There are 16 branches on the realistic looking pine tree which represent each of the state's counties and the blue star is a tribute to Portland as the state's premier city. OK, I made up the part about Portland. The new version is a winner for me which is surprising due to my nostalgic preferences in most things related to history.
 
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Interesting take and I feel that the pine tree in the original version looks a little too fake as if an elementary school student drew it during recess. :)

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Thank god that they went with a realistic pine tree. I prefer Dirigo but at least it won't be a total embarrassment if the pine tree wins. The one created by the Portland flag store with the simple pine tree is dumb.
 
I like it, and am voting in favor of the change. It is nostalgic; I recall seeing the original flying from the Cumberland County Courthouse when I was a small child and Portlander took me for a spin in the Model T just after he got his license ;) .
 
KCasiglio said:
Love the concept on the whole, though I would personally opt for a less detailed pine tree.
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Semi-disagree here: They should either use the New England Pine Tree or they should keep the one on the proposed design. The "should be able to be drawn by a child" rule is kind of making flags into the equivalent of trendy website design that will become incredibly dated. For example, I think the Californian flag is distinct in a good way despite breaking two to three rules and the NCR is doubly good because two heads are better than one. At some point, all of the new-age flags will violate rule five (avoid duplicating other flags, but use similarities to show connections) because there are only so many useful geometric shapes and the natural landmarks of the US don't really differ enough to make them uniquely interesting.
 
Portlander said:
I would have liked to see "Dirigo" placed on the flag somewhere also because it is kind of unique to Maine.
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I agree with this sentiment, though not sure where the placement would be without ruining the simplicity of the design. But I like "Dirigo".
 
Tree is ugly and why is it higher than the star? The proportions are off, tree is too big. I hate the whole "its more realistic" argument. None of them are realistic!
 
Does that mean you prefer to keep the current blue flag over the new version as it is currently designed?
 
Could you not put a banner, with Dirigo, above or below the star. Star leading to Maine.
Just a thought. My two cents worth is I like the one with a pine tree representing the 16 counties.
 
I am trying to figure out if the new license plates are going to have a white background or are they going to be a matching shade of "buff" (aka beige-ish). It's unfortunate that the plate design had to be finalized before the flag design was picked; I'd have preferred that they match.

There's a PDF showing the Top 10 finalists at https://www.maine.gov/sos/news/2024/Top 10 - Maine State Flag Redesign Contest.pdf .
 
I laughed my ass off listening to the guy who won the design contest going on about his inspiration for the white pine tree. It was a pile of BS. That image is not original to him. I have it in my horticulture graphics library.
 
Agree with 1169, it was just missing a base of any size to give it some balance in my opinion.
 
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