Earth Flag

[TheWelshPirate]

I was just reading this thread here: http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=236215

and I thought I'd take the general idea and design my own flag for Earth.

http://welshpirate1138.deviantart.com/art/EarthFlag-431538179

 

[iguana_tonante]

I think it's nice, if a bit "busy".

I'm a fan of very simple designs for flags. Ideally, a 3 year old should be able to draw it.

Some time ago I posted as an hypothetical flag of Earth inspired by the one of Brazil, I still think it's a pretty cool design.

ETA: Check out this thread.

 

[Kaiser]

Nice Flag

 

[Rattrap]

Nice job, but remember that the traditional proportions of a National Standard are 3 high b 5 wide.

 

[NervousEnergy]

Nice job, but remember that the traditional proportions of a National Standard are 3 high b 5 wide.

There are exceptions to the rule. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Nepal

 

[iguana_tonante]

There are more exceptions than rules, actually.

The British Flag is 1:2 for example (and so are many others: Australia, Canada, Cuba, Croatia, Jamaica, Ireland, and a bunch of other flags), the US Flag is 10:19 (you guys are weird), and a lot are 2:3 (Italy, France, Romania, basically all tricolour flags), etc.

Source.

So basically, you can do whatever you want.

 

[TheWelshPirate]

I think it's nice, if a bit "busy".

I'm a fan of very simple designs for flags. Ideally, a 3 year old should be able to draw it.

Some time ago I posted as an hypothetical flag of Earth inspired by the one of Brazil, I still think it's a pretty cool design.

ETA: Check out this thread.

Being from the US, I guess I'm just used to busy flags. Though I do kinda like that Cadle design you posted.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Being from the US, I guess I'm just used to busy flags.

Well, it's not that busy flags are inherently bad. It's just that they are very difficult to do right.

Personally, I would say that the US flag is a pretty strong design even if it's admittedly rather busy. But on the other hand, it's such a common visual that's it's difficult to assess it aesthetically without personal feelings creeping in.

Make-up flags don't have that kind of emotional resonance, so they are usually judged more harshly than real historical flags.

 

[Squiggy]

Not a fan of black on flags myself. It would fade in about 30 minutes.

 

[iguana_tonante]

What about pirate flags? Especially naked-titties river-boating pirate flags?

 

[chardman]

I'm a fan of very simple designs for flags. Ideally, a 3 year old should be able to draw it.

That's why I still love the Earth flag that Ron Cobb (Yep, the same Ron Cobb who helped design "Star Wars" and "Alien") came up w/ back in 1969, and which was later adopted by the ecology movement.

 

[TheWelshPirate]

Being from the US, I guess I'm just used to busy flags.

Well, it's not that busy flags are inherently bad. It's just that they are very difficult to do right.

Personally, I would say that the US flag is a pretty strong design even if it's admittedly rather busy. But on the other hand, it's such a common visual that's it's difficult to assess it aesthetically without personal feelings creeping in.

Make-up flags don't have that kind of emotional resonance, so they are usually judged more harshly than real historical flags.

Yeah, but in relation to your previous comment, you'd be hard pressed to find a 3 year old who is willing to draw 50 5-pointed stars in the correct pattern, or even count out the proper number of stripes.

And I wasn't just talking about our national flag, but also our state flags. For example, I grew up in Oregon, so my state flag looked like this:

Compared to that, a few ovals and a starburst isn't all that cluttered.

 

[Albertese]

Interestingly, many (maybe most?) of the American states have flags that are simply the state's seal on a blue field and are actually a legacy of the Civil War when many of the states didn't have flags but adopted the simple formula of seal on blue field in order to make it clear where each army element was from.

Without this historical connection, the flags would probably look a lot different. A lot of flags went another direction, but aren't necessarily less busy. Look at Texas and compare it with Maryland. Of course, both of these flags have historical reasons for being what they are.

I'm not actually enamored of this Earth flag. But I'm not sure it has to do with being too busy.

I also don't care for black on the flag, but that's not the dealbreaker. I get the symbolism behind all of it except the white border. Which I don't care for. I do like that the moon is represented, but I don't care the fact that it is circular but the Earth is oval. My problem is not that the moon is round. I don't like the oval Earth. Also, I don't like the Sun being in the center of the earth. That just seems weird to me.

I think the elements of this flag are cool, but needs to be reworked to seem finished.

--Alex

 

[TheWelshPirate]

Here's another version I thought of. It's more simplistic and more traditionally proportioned.

The yellow circle represents the Sun. In the middle is the astrological symbol for Earth filled in with ocean blue, with the moon next to it. The characters on either side of the sun are the astrological symbols for the other eight planets (I included Pluto for the sake of make it symmetrical).

Here's a version for people who don't like the black field:

 

[B.J.]

I'm a fan of very simple designs for flags. Ideally, a 3 year old should be able to draw it.

That's why I still love the Earth flag that Ron Cobb (Yep, the same Ron Cobb who helped design "Star Wars" and "Alien") came up w/ back in 1969, and which was later adopted by the ecology movement.

It wasn't really an Earth flag, more of an Earth Day symbol (actually an ecology symbol), which has different connotations. This by itself is just a symbol, it was later added to a flag with green and white stripes. See here and here for more info.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I'm a fan of very simple designs for flags. Ideally, a 3 year old should be able to draw it.

That's why I still love the Earth flag that Ron Cobb (Yep, the same Ron Cobb who helped design "Star Wars" and "Alien") came up w/ back in 1969, and which was later adopted by the ecology movement.

I really like that. I'm not completely convinced by the green field: make it sky blue, and we could have a winner. (B.J., thanks for the additional information.)

Personally, I would say that the US flag is a pretty strong design even if it's admittedly rather busy. But on the other hand, it's such a common visual that's it's difficult to assess it aesthetically without personal feelings creeping in.

Yeah, but in relation to your previous comment, you'd be hard pressed to find a 3 year old who is willing to draw 50 5-pointed stars in the correct pattern, or even count out the proper number of stripes.

True. But as I said, it has such an emotional resonance that overrides the busy design (even for non-Americans: blame your hegemony of the entertainment field! )

And I wasn't just talking about our national flag, but also our state flags. For example, I grew up in Oregon, so my state flag looked like this:

Ok. That is just ugly. Of the US state flags, the only ones that can be saved are Texas, Alabama, and maybe New Mexico. A couple can be reworked into something bearable with a few changes (Colorado has promise, and Alaska is cool in concept).

Here's another version I thought of. It's more simplistic and more traditionally proportioned.

The yellow circle represents the Sun. In the middle is the astrological symbol for Earth filled in with ocean blue, with the moon next to it. The characters on either side of the sun are the astrological symbols for the other eight planets (I included Pluto for the sake of make it symmetrical).

Mh. Strictly personal opinion, but I don't think it works very well.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Sadly, I havent seen one yet that I like. The astrological signs for the planets don't work for me. The Earth divided into quarters doesn't work. Not sure that the Moon should be on the flag (probably would have its own). Sun shouldn't be on the flag. The Earth day flag doesn't work because it's been coopted for other purposes. I'd like to see one with a blue-green-white globe on dark navy background, perhaps from polar orbit?

 

[B.J.]

Here's the best one I've seen. Although there was an edit by someone else that added a second band for the Kuiper belt.

 

[largo]

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'd think the Martians might object to that flag.