New York state flag redesign
Redesign
Current New York flag
New York's current flag is a seal on a bedsheet. It's cluttered, boring, and does little to distinguish the state beyond reproducing its coat of arms.
Design and symbolism
My redesign replaces the cluttered state coat of arms with eleven stars on a blue hoist, while the fly consists of five orange and white stripes.
The eleventh state
The eleven stars represent New York's place as the eleventh state to join the Union. Their vertical arrangement on a blue hoist maintains a structural connection to the American aesthetic while remaining distinct from the national flag.
Dutch heritage
The orange, blue, and white draw from the Prinsenvlag and the Dutch foundations of the region. While the colors are often associated with New York City, similar combinations appear in the flags of several upstate and other New York jurisdictions.
Fivefold New York
The five stripes represent the various quintets that define the state: the five original nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, the five boroughs of New York City, the five major waterways, and the five major upstate hubs of Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and Utica.
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.