Alabama state flag redesign
Recolor
Current Alabama flag
Vexillologically, the current red saltire on a white field is a sound design. However, it is also an obvious invocation of the Confederacy. The design's simplicity does not redeem its association with the Confederate battle flag.
Design and symbolism
I retain the saltire but reverse its colours, making it white against a field divided into four alternating red and black sections.
Peace
The white saltire represents peace in a state with a history of racial division. Extending across the entire flag, it also symbolises the unity of Alabama and its people.
The landscape and soil
The red and black fields represent Alabama's varied soils: the red clay of the Piedmont region and the dark, fertile soils of the Black Belt.
The Black Belt
The black field also references the cultural Black Belt across central Alabama. Placing black along the hoist emphasises the region's importance to the state's identity and history.
I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands throughout Australia on which these federal divisions are drawn and pay my respects to their Elders, past and present.