How To ACTUALLY Design A Flag
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 19 дек 2017
- How to design a flag.
------------
GOOD FLAG, BAD FLAG: www.ausflag.com.au/assets/imag...
THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES ON FLAG DESIGN: nava.org/navanews/Commission-...
FLAG WAVER: krikienoid.github.io/flagwaver/
----------
► DISCUSS THIS EPISODE ON REDDIT: goo.gl/2RvTLr
------------
WATCH MORE:
► Stars : goo.gl/DTefZk
► Galaxies : goo.gl/y1d4zn
► Planetary Systems : goo.gl/jQy3o2
► Planets : goo.gl/KWhpYd
► Orbits : goo.gl/hhqZ7z
► Languages : goo.gl/KUng4y
► Seasons: goo.gl/ekyzh5
► Moons: goo.gl/swLfbo
► Calendars: goo.gl/8G2jgo
► Flags: • Playlist
------------
ARTIFEXIAN ON THE INTERWEB:
► RUclips: / artifexian
► Facebook: / artifexian
► Twitter: / artifexian
► Podcast: / @artifexianpodcast
► Reddit: / artifexian
------------
STUFF IN THE VIDEO I DIDN'T MAKE:
All flags sourced from Wikimedia Commons
------------
Thanks for watching everyone. It means a lot. :) 
Наука
One point I think should be made, if you're making flags for a constructed universe, it's perfectly reasonable that some of them would be bad in-universe because obviously people in our universe have designed bad flags. It would be admittedly unrealistic to have every flag perfectly designed, not to mention that these guidelines are from our world and not the con-universe, which might have different reasons altogether to have flags.
ois ois
On the other hand, if the flags are used in situations where easy identification could be a matter of life and death (such as on a battlefield), bad flag designs will quickly be weeded out. Those terrible state flags have never been put through such a test, as far as I know.
@@ragnkja Saudi Arabia is lucky that almost nobody else uses white in the center of a plain green field, afaik.
Because hoo boy does THEIR flag violate pretty much every principle except for the color one.
For a good reason, mind you, it doesn't say more "capital of Islam" than literally having al-Shahada on a plain color flag, but still.
ois ois Yes! I keep the same thing in mind with worldbuilding emblems and flags. Not all of them in real life are awesome, sometimes they just work or are plain ugly, but many worldbuilders don't know this.
I think it’s ok to embellish facts, more powerful and meaningful flags can really be used to great effect for your story
Like Nillie said, the bad flags would get weeded out, so a cool way of showing variety would be for the bad flag design to pop up more frequently in countries that are permanently at peace, and places where strife and needing to recognize a flag perfectly are removed (like the state flags). Another cool way to decide your colors would be to pick the dyes that are most available to each country, as making them expensive colors would reduce the quantity of people buying, making and keeping said flags, because of their added costs.
Another interesting point could be to go towards shape symbolism (triangles/sharp shapes= unstable and violent, squares/rectangles= balanced and unchanging, circles/other rounded shapes= fluid, peaceful and cyclical) and pick whichever best reflects the stance the country had with its neighbors, either with a recent flag change or when its flag was first chosen.
These shape symbols are often used in character design and such as a kind of mental shortcut, so it might give people viewing them a quicker impression of what that country is like in very general strokes, unconsciously. Of course, that's only in regards to media we consume and wouldn't be the case for the people of your world, just like it isn't for us regarding real flags.
"flags are like opinions. everybody has one, most are terrible."
-artifexian, 2017
* - artifexian, late (very late) 2017
no your opinion is wrong. always.
Only libertarians have good opinion
SuperYoshiFan10090 Studios what are you a communist?
@@parthiancapitalist2733 of course...
Criteria: **is identifiable in grayscale**
Pretty much all of Europe: *CRAP*
Danemark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland: fuck
Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania and Russia: blyat
macedonia: we good
Germany: We should use the version with the eagle more often.
Lol, he misspoke there.
@@veeeen North Macedonia*
"a child can draw it from memory"
me: *immediately remember plenty of my childhood friends who drew german flag in black-yellow-red order instead of black-red-yellow*
Imagine they drew the belgian flag somehow lmao.
Flashbacks to failing to draw the union flag and all its bloody stripes before giving up and just drawing the Saltire
Ah, the easy time of just drawing a blue cross on a clean white paper. That's pretty much Finland for you
I used to (and still do) draw a flag with blue white and red stripes, a black semicircle to one side and three crosses along th middle (2 red and one yellow)
The German flag doesn’t have yellow, it has
“It has to be good in greyscale”
*Italy, Ireland, France, Belgium, Ivory Coast, etc*
Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland. Probably more.
@Ng John how can't you differentiate them lol
*Germany slowly Puts Eagle back on flag*
@Ng John To be fair, they were only independent from the Netherlands in 1890 due to salic law meaning that the female queen of the Netherlands couldn't inherit Luxembourg upon the death of the previous king.
Sweats in Somali and Chinese
The president of Liberia used Microsoft paint to make those flags
nikoplayz the sad thing is that is probably true
I would hope so.
*Do you think God stays in heaven because he fears what he created?*
@@jzv.71 he created the earth in Ms paint
@@AdamTheCannon no. just no. stop
*No lettering on seals*
Brazil Flag:Im gonna do what's called a pro gamer move
“Ordem e Progresso”
Lmao yeah, i like that it's still recognizable without the lettering tho heheh
Belize, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Salvador: fools
@@ricardokessler The first case of clickbait in a flag.
@@mariangela_joaopedro261 VERY TRUE
edit: this post was made by the brazilian gang
"do not use texts on your flag"
the "order and progress" written on the brazilian flag :
*sweats intensely*
Doubly so because it was a political lemma of the Brazilian Positivists (a politico-philosophical current which is mostly dead nowadays), and triply so because it is the _contraction_ of the *actual* lemma which should read _O Amor por princípio e a Ordem por base; o Progresso por fim_ ("Love as a principle and Order as a base; Progress as an end"), which obviously would fit *even less* on a flag.
A lot of people love the distinctiveness of the Brazilian flag but I find it hideous.
What makes this basically a nonentity in the flag sin department is that the text is not a major element of the flag. You can absolutely tell the Brazilian flag at distance, when flying, etc. If a simple recreation is needed then it can, at worst, be omitted.
So I can hear "Then it shouldn't be on the flag at all!" In Brazil's case, the placement of the text serves a purpose--the curving band it's on translates the circle in the center of the flag from a flat image to a globe, visually, and there would be no point to the band's symbolism without the text to put on it. There's other ways to make it look like a globe, of course, but the band of text is one of the simplest ones and thus, paradoxically, one of the easiest to replicate.
The most important thing to remember about flag rules is: all of them can be broken, _provided you know what you're doing._ This was the case in heraldry (Kingdom of Jerusalem, anyone?) and it's the case in vexillology as well. Brazil's green field, gold lozenge, and blue globe is distinct and identifiable when flying, at long distances, and whether in day or night (which is the point of the grayscale test--it's not just "do these colors work well in greyscale", it's "when there's very little ambient light, can I still make out which flag this is so I don't accidentally shoot something I don't want to shoot").
What about the Saudi Arabia flag?
Brunei's flag having jawi inscriptions on it *also sweats intensely*
If this is supposed to be applied to a fantasy universe, some of these tips don't really apply. For example, the shape of flags is fairly arbitrary (the longer side could be vertical, like in Japanese battle standards, for example), as is the orientation of the device (based on cultural European ideas of virtue and direction). The presence and absence of lettering is also up for debate. If there are few enough symbols (letters are just symbols, after all), and it is visibly distinct enough, it can fit in fine. For example, a large Greek delta or gamma on a plain background, for example, could look very nice - as could any given alien/fantasy-culture symbol that might also be a letter or a number or of course an entire word (as in Chinese writing).
A single letter is not “lettering”. Your brain processes single letters differently from words, it doesn’t try to “read” a letter, it just recognizes it as a shape. When they say no lettering they don’t mean no letters, just no words or acronyms.
@@ObjectsInMotion I would say even lettering can work in rare situations, when it is treated primarily as a graphical element and as the exception, not the rule. For instance, the words "CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC" appear on California's state flag despite California no longer being its own independent republic, and I think it works on the flag because (1) it is used as a graphical element, forming part of the Mound the bear stands on, (2) the flag remains recognizable even if the words aren't and you just see them as "a block of text" and (3) it has historical significance, being an element in the original Californian "Bear Flag Revolt" flag (which was objectively a terrible flag, but the modern California flag Heraldry-izes to make its elements look good), and reminding the viewer that California, like Vermont and Texas, was its own independent country for a short period (much shorter than either of those others, but still).
@@ObjectsInMotion I would say even lettering can work in rare situations, when it is treated primarily as a graphical element and as the exception, not the rule. For instance, the words "CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC" appear on California's state flag despite California no longer being its own independent republic, and I think it works on the flag because (1) it is used as a graphical element, forming part of the Mound the bear stands on, (2) the flag remains recognizable even if the words aren't and you just see them as "a block of text" and (3) it has historical significance, being an element in the original Californian "Bear Flag Revolt" flag (which was objectively a terrible flag, but the modern California flag Heraldry-izes to make its elements look good), and reminding the viewer that California, like Vermont and Texas, was its own independent country for a short period (much shorter than either of those others, but still).
Hung vertically, it's a banner, not a flag. Further, a horizontal flag requires less space on the pole than a vertical flag of the same area.
@@watchm4ker So, what if the fantasy universe uses banners as representative flags, but flies flags as war banners? I think your argument just breaks down to semantics, whereas OP was arguing that an alien civilization or culture could subject themselves to critically different aesthetic rules. Maybe rectangular flags & banners of any kind are very passé and as such only use triangular flags? Maybe they don't use imagery at all and opt instead for colors and systematic combinations of colors? Food for thought.
I live in Virginia and in first grade my teacher made our draw a picture of our flag. There is absolutely nothing suspicious about 15 first graders drawing a picture of a guy standing on a dead body.
Now kids always remember it takes three cinder blocks to keep a fresh body under water.
It's supposed to be a guy killing a tyrant and that's what's the phrase under it means I think it is a super cool flag personally
@@jmc9137 It's actually the Roman goddess Libertas standing over the body of a slain tyrant, but yeah.
it's not a guy, that's a lady killing the tyrant! Good teacher tho
That’s a woman…
3:46
*sweats nervously*
Br?
Brazil...
If you're gonna put text on your flag, you might as well go with "so small it becomes illegible at all but the grandest of scales"
I actually never noticed text on the Brazil flag lol
Something i like to consider when making flags is “could a child draw this” since a common pre-school thing is to learn flags and draw your own flag, as well as it makes sure you don’t over complicate
I live in Kazakhstan...
Yeahh...
What preschool did you go to?
My state’s flag(I live in the US) is hella hard to draw for kids because it has people on it, and I was *not* an artist in preschool. Not to mention the really small writing written around the seal
@@aeolidi8849 I think the US flag is hard to draw because I can't get the correct space between lines and stars so I just but a few dots and draw some lines.
"Could a child draw this"
Turkmen Kids: Chuckles, I'm in danger
0:19 Liberia be like:
"The Love of MS Paint Brought Us Here"
Not to mention Liberia's US heritage, as shown in their national flag: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberia#Early_colonization
You also gotta consider that these are only guidelines, and not take them as eternal rules, because flags can go against them and still look spectacular (e.g. Brazil's flag - expensive, double-sided, with writings, hard to be made without precise tools, with many small details, hard to scale down without losing information...)
I think why Brazil's flag works, is because its has a very distinct look and is still reconcilable if you simplifies it too only green yellow and blue
Agree.
Wtf man I five years old kid could draw that flag, it's just a tilted rectangle and a circle
||. But the stars are a fucking mess.
A 5 year old being able to draw the flag is actually a compliment if you think about it.
El Ferko I know, I said that as an example of it's simple design
"Works in grayscale"
Can we get an F for Scandinavian countries and Belgium, France, Italy, and other 3 vertical barred flags?
F
F
They are central European, not Scandinavian
F
*F*
In Spain there's a province called Zamora which flag consists on 9 horizontal bands being the upper one green and the rest red, they are all totally separated from each other and end in a sharp tip (though there are many flags that don't cut the bands, this is wrong) .
This was made to represent Viriato, a hero for the city who fought against the Romans and when he won a battle he will tear a strip from the centurion's cape and put it in his spear accumulating several. The green strip was given to the city as honour by one of the kings who used to wear the green strip on his shoulder.
Good flag is the one you can make a countryball from.
Hehe
I’m doing that now lol
Definitely. Made my first, had fun. Now I need a flag for my other conlangs only for that purpose.
This has to be the first thing to think about when designing a flag!
(P.S. mine countryball have a golden yellow transversal bar below the red one, it's ok with design, no? I wouldn't like to think that my revolutionary fathers weren't making something recognizable and unique)
Amen
I wonder what if EU went with that bar code flag...
Everyone would have Brexited long ago.
breaking news! EU breakup!
Russia could buy Europe.
@@CruelestChris and United Kingdom would become a continent
Lol my teacher showed this in class then stopped near the end and said “this dude just keeps talking about politics I’ll find a good video” im dead lol. Other than that this is a good video, I love flags and this is good
I would want to punch this dude in the face for saying that flags that show blood, land and history are bad. Im not form any country that uses that UK Union Jack nor have I ever been in one but to suggest that australians or newzeelanders should sow that they are english by blood and history no matter that they dont live in England is something that will get you punched.
@@gunarsmiezis9321 Union Jack flags are terrible. An independent country should never have the flag of another country. It's even worse when a state/province of a country has the flag of a separate country within it's flag
@@archdukefranzferdinand567 why must flags show diference but not similarity?
Why do you think most regions have a color palet asociated with that region counrty flags?
@@gunarsmiezis9321 If you want to show similarity to another flag, do it in the same colours (Red, White, and Blue), or in the same style (tricolour), don't just make your flag a cheap knockoff of another countries flag
@@archdukefranzferdinand567 Is the union jack a bad flag since it has the flags of england scotland and ireland on it?
Red white blue and black are just the colours used by europians. but what if i want to show the enlishness not just the europianness?
The Japanese Prefecture flags are so good. They’re all a single colour on the background and a logo made of one or two colours, opposing the background. It’s so simple and recognizable and the pattern is easily noticeable that they’re all obviously related. It’s such smart design.
Well, TRADITION.
Too bad my country is one of the most lazy flag designer.
This is an amazing video! I look forward to seeing more from you in the future
Obradovsky L
Heyy
Omg hi! What if the white army won the Russian Civil War?
Alternate history hub big fan I liked your old alternate country video
Sup Cody? Alternate History Hub is amazing
Actually:
-Use colors that you can afford. (Not like: Purple/Bright Pink)
-Don't use letters. (Remember, when you have to sew it, it sucks to sew little letters.)
-Make it very simple. (Same as in the letters.)
-Good.
Kingdom of Haronve me: **realizing my state’s flag breaks all of these rules** oh
Wow, those Japanese prefecture flags are gorgeous.
Another thing to add to the list of what the Japanese are good at.
Japan has it's own homegrown heraldic tradition from feudal times--the 'mon'--an they kept the same basic rules for their prefecture flags. 1 background color with one charge in a flat contrasting color, where said charge can be complicated, but must be easily identifiable, and frequently has some sort of radial or lateral symmetry. The corporate logos of yamaha and mitsubishi also follow that same heraldic style guide, with yamaha being 3 tuning forks, representing that they are a music company (even if they also make heavy equipment b/c WWII), and mitsubishi's logo being that family's actual mon from feudal times, and a stylized representation of their name, which means "three water-chestnuts".
Those flags look prity bad to me. Too light, too stilized.
Of course the first thing in the list is hentai!
Japan’s notifications : *Chinese Koreans and Pilipino would like to know your location*
@@wife_puncher_bot8483 true
There are true flags, which are battle flags or directly based on such, which have been designed since ancient times to be easily recognizable under adverse conditions from at least two contrasting angles (some Asian flags were spherical or boxes.)
Banner flags are really types of signs and meant to be displayed. A lot of US state flags from the mid-1800s forward are actually just the state seal. They were designed to look good hung on a wall, not a flag pole.
The flag of the town in Idaho was designed to look good on a poster, as are most modern-day "flags".
Look up the new Pocatello flag:)
The oblong shape of that "planet" is bugging me more than it should.
Must be the dwarf planet Haumea.
Yeah it's questionable as you also can't recreate an ellipse with a compass and straight edge like he claims.
No, it's bugging you less than it should.
@@katzen3314It's a cycloid. You can easily make it by taking a circle with a circumference equal to the length of the flag, and rolling it along the bottom, keeping the pen/pencil/utensil attached to the same point along the outside of said circle. Only need a compass to draw the circle in the first place.
@@U.Inferno Okay so it's a cycloid. Even then, how do you roll a circle along a line with just a straight edge and compass? It's impossible.
AND even if you could somehow do that (you can't), just reconstructing the circle itself would also be impossible as it would need a diameter equal to the bottom edge divided by pi, and achieving a straight line ratio of pi in a geometry reconstruction is a problem known as "squaring the circle"- and was proven to be impossible hundreds of years ago.
I appreciate that the flag is possible to draw by other means, like just using your circle stencil, but that's not what he said. You could draw a perfect ellipse, for example, with a loop of string and 2 focal points.
Oh god, some of these flags look like they were designed by a bored politician using Microsoft Paint!
I bet that is the case.
of course not! its the bored politician
That’s actually what happened in the case of Liberia.
I am unironically convinced that the flags of Liberia were actually "designed" in Paint.
Artifexian well, they might have been better if they used a 2016 touchbar MacBook pro?
And do not, I say DO NOT put faces on your flag. A sun with a happy face isn't that good
*Argentina and Uruguay big oof*
I think the worst thing you can do is what monaco and indonesia did, they are literally only distinguishable through ratio of the flag and the type of red used (though the difference in shade for the red is bearly noticeable and you would need to put both flags side by side0
New York flag oof
@@hiddentreasure2161 Chad and Romania are even worse
Argentina's flag might not be great, but it is infinitely better than at least 50% of all US state flags.
Woahhhhh Colorado's flag is cool.
I thought I never would say that.
cooooool duuuuuuuude
In my opinion, Venice is good, especially for a medieval country. Yes, it's crowded, but it's at least organized.
Venice has a very good flag for a medieval city. It's really one of the best, as they managed to combine important symbols.
It's also a very good flag for tourism.
Same with mine (it's in the profile pic(not all of it))
It's better than the Holy Roman Empire's
The flag in your profile picture is glorious. Kinged kings of kings ruling kings!
4:58 These are amazing, they look like e-sports flags
Is that a good thing? You want a country with a mighty and impressive history to have flags that looked like they were designed for a niche company for a thing that's not even 20 years old?
@@TheSmart-CasualGamer I guess? I meant that they're modern and cool looking
@@TheSmart-CasualGamer Yeah, `cause it'll hopefully integrate modern design knowledge.
@@RammusTheArmordilloEsport logo tutorial:
Step 1: Copy from a Japanese prefecture flag
Step 2: Done!
Also, these are probably made before the esport logos
Also, an esport logo looks way too familiar to a certain flag.... Can you name it?
Symbolism is key.
Text is tolerable if it integrates smoothly into the design.
Color theory should be utilized to obtain the desired psychological effect from others.
Make the flag simple, yet complex enough to fit in with the represented state’s technological. Complexity can be sacrificed in some instances. (I.E. Japan, which is ironic)
Make the design interesting and beautifully drawn. Make sure it fits in with your nation’s reputation or agenda. (Hammer and Sickle for Blood, Sweat, and Tears. Lots of Stars and Stripes for Endless Freedom and Liberty)
Would land features like mountains or forests be good?
but how do i create my own nation
*HAMMER AND SICKLE do you mean?*
Text is not tolerable (to me at least). Ever.
Iran is a good example of text fitting in smoothly with the design.
1:07 the flag next to USAs is Åland, a little island outside finland where I happend to live
Nobody:
You: laughs in Åland pride
"And literally ALL of Liberia" I'm dying here. You can't even pick the least worse, they are all amazingly awful.
Hehe
I mean, I halfway like the one that is a Green Cross and the Liberian Flag. That one gives me the feeling they had to have the Liberian Flag included in the Union. That is probably the easiest to fix, stretching the Liberian flag to fill that entire quadrant might work.
>comes here to watch a flag video
>expects Oklahoma's to catch some heat
>not even ten seconds in and Bartlesville has been torched
O-oh no...
Hey Oklahoma finally got a new flag design lol its very similair to Colorado's imo.
seeing8spots That was just Tulsa
I thought Ohio’s flag would be mentioned
@@seeing8spots we did?
"do not contain text"
- Romans: *Triggered*
Romans didn't have a flag.
@@JamieDNGN Roman Empire
the Roman didn't have a flag. They had those S.P.Q.R. banners but they weren't thought of as flags.
@@JamieDNGN dumb technicality
Saudi Arabia : 😔
2:37 Turns into a Minecraft Banner Reference for a split second.
4:22 *it's perfect....everything is even*
Sure Venice’s flag is a bit over designed but it’s actually very beautiful to look at unlike the other examples you provided of bad flags.
It’s not that’s it’s nice to look at up close, it’s that it needs to have a flexible design, which Venice’s flag doesn’t really have. It’s flappy bits (technical term) are just impractical in high winds, and the symbols can look like a blurred mess when the flag is creased or not flailing.
I agree. The ornate and patterned design of the Vencian flag is central to its identity as a Renaissance and cultural centre. Plus he used its dynastic version. The pure gold and red version is in my opinion one of the the most betiful flags in the world. That’s why it’s on my wall.
I have seen it flying from a distance and it is still recognizable and pleasant to look at.
Inquisitor Thomas It looks good. But it also looks like it belongs on the ceiling of a basilica.
That flag is the one of the modern-day Veneto Region, whose capital is Venice. The flag was created imitating the original flag of Venice and of the Venetian Republic.
Anyway, I don’t understand why he defines that as terrible.
Venice has a beautiful flag, it’s one of the best not one of the worst.
You can’t just simplify flags that have a great history just because it doesn’t look good.
@TheKountribal It has a lot of details, I like the design with all those stripes, also makes a nice effect when flowing in the wind, and even the colors match greatly, and it’s just historical
@TheKountribal I don’t have to see all details from a distance to recognize a flag and I don’t know what game you are talking about but I’m sure this is much more historical which is the reason why it should be kept instead of made simpler
0:13 Venice Italy is one of the best designed flags. It may not be simple but it is unique and well loves
2:18 I live in Europe and I had to laugh when I first saw this 2002 European Flag Proposal.
It's funny, and good that the EU kept the Circle of 12 Stars instead.
when talking about paraguay and how your flag should work backwards, you should have mentioned saudi arabia!
(their flag has text, so they literally print each flag twice to avoid having to read backwards!)
True but that solution doesn't address the issue of cost or readability.
ye, i meant you should have included how theirs was poorly designed
I've lived in Saudi Arabia for most of my life, and I have to say, it's a good flag, and definitely what I would say poorly designed.
The text is actually an older form of Arabic, one that's used in the Quran if I am right, and while still readable, most would opt not to read it at all, as you can just look for the text somewhere else to scrutinize it, so I would say that it is more symbolic than you would say it is just plain text.
Another is that the crescent moon is one of the more common symbols of Islam, and in case you didn't know, there are a lot of them on flags. A LOT. A WHOLE FREAKING LOT. It looks generic as well.
As a result, an older text/font that isn't used in everyday life that contains the creed of Islam on it, and on a green background that symbolizes a part of Islam, would be actually really striking and easy to differentiate amongst the other green and white flags.
Sacha Riel it has text, which is horrible, but because it has text it's distinctive, which is great. There's probably a better solution that doesn't include text on the flag, but it's serviceable, I guess?
Well it's recognizable, and simple enough with only two colors... There is that at least.
I live in Colorado and thanks for mentioning our flag, I’m biased but I think it’s a great role model for what a flag should be and after watching a few videos on flags, you’re the first to mention it. To add to my bias, I also think the Denver flag is also really good.
1:26 flags tend to be rectangular
Nepal: imma head out
Keyword:"tend to be"
Keyword "tend to be"
Thank you so much for challenging the three color limit as being a strict guideline. I get more than three has the potential to be cluttered, but rules like that discourage designs such as South Africa's, which is very good. (in my opinion, I'm fine if you disagree)
I thought the same thing when he said that, because I also love the South African flag! I have a bracelet with a flag for each country I've visited, and for that reason I would love to visit South Africa!!
@@EmonEconomist South Africa is a great place to visit but its incredibly still racist over there
I know next to nothing about vexilology, but what I find from many videos like this is that some people tend to ignore history. Btw, there's nothing on Earth that will change my opinion about the flag of Venice. It's cool as hell, specially the ancient one. A lion that reads a book during peace time, and pulls out a sword when in war? Come on, you can't beat that
That's a good point about history. And one I may bring up in the vlog part of the next video.
This was interesting. Drawing is my passion and, even if design is not my thing, it's always fun to learn about the aesthetics of specific things out of my field
Thank you for posting this video. I'm still learning what the best way to progress with this, having the main flag, and then 4 smaller islands. Little did I know that my flag shape was a swallowtail + tongue, much similar to Sweden's Naval Design. I thought it looked cool, but time to think about new ideas.
As someone who lives in Wisconsin, I think I know why the flag is garbage: it wasn't really designed to be a flag at first. It's a municipal seal on the state color background, with white text. It was meant to be on high-end documents as a sort of seal container. It became a flag when dyeing fabric became cheaper- and lo, we had a flag that nobody cared about, so nobody ever thinks to change.
At least it's not the mess that Milwaukee (city in Wisconsin) has. It was the conglomerate of a competition held to design the city flag. There weren't supposed to be winners, just ideas to make a final flag. And the mess that was created was formulated from all of the popular ideas in designs sent in.
The Milwaukee flag is a special kind of awful. They really need to change it.
@@Artifexian There actually were plans to change it. Someone made a flag about the sunrise on Lake Michigan, but people thought it had a racist meaning for some reason, so that never happened.
The Japanese prefecture flag of Nagano is also a good representation, like Colorado, of incorporating text into flag design such that it is a stylized element and not just to be text.
Bingo!
Japanese Prefecture flags are interesting but not very well known in Japan. Show any of those flags to someone in Japan and they’d be guessing where most of them were for.
Except Aomori. It’s literally just a map of the region. Lazy!
Aomori is easily the most terrible flag out of them, then probably Ehime. And the best out of them is Hokkaido.
Hiw Graji Du Suw Or Tokyo...
The flag of Seychelles is underrated. It does something few other flag designs would dare to attempt but absolutely nails it.
I like to think the canadian city flags are quite good. Specifically Ottawa and Toronto, Possibly Quebec City and Iqualiut (save for the lettering) unlike the major american city flags I've seen which just feature a seal most of the time. Along with British cities flags being a bit yucky imo
Yeah I don't get why we like seals so much. At least some of the younger state flags got to be a little more exciting.
Quick tip: If you can make it in MS Paint, it's just simple enough.
looks like that's what liberia did and they messed up
Artifexian you are a psychic.
I've been obsessing over flags and vexillology for the past couple of weeks, and have been into them for months.
I've heard these 5 basic principles of good flag design a million times at this point, but I'd hear it again from your channel.
Can confirm. Am not psychic.
GOD THANK YOU FOR TALKING ABOUT POCATELLO
I like how you bring up 80s wallpaper. I love that.
5:31 i live in adelaide and have never seen that flag, we use the south aussie one with the magpie
This is a stellar explanation of good flag design principles to follow, and bad ones to avoid. Very well done! :)
(also, great takedown of Wisconsin's abomination)
Cheers, pal. Glad you enjoyed.
I'd disagree a lot of flags were badly done some which exist now still are.
Depending on the country you are making it might make sense to make a flag which is not at all esthertically pleasing.
Vexillographer nice to see you here
HELLO!!!!!!
Michael Ash, Wisconsin's flag uses the state seal and even has the word "Wisconsin" on it. It's also nearly indistinguishable from most other USA state flags. That's why people are hating on the state.
Venice flag isn't terrible at all.
It's just complex.
probably the best video on flag design I've ever watched
3:33 Why call out Virginia only? This applies to like more than half of all US state flags.
(3:50, Wisconsin included.)
Literally, just picked at random. On a different day, I may have picked a different exemplar.
thats why i liek Arizona's flag lots of personality, very striking, good colors, and full of what symbolizes our state.
+Matthew Chenault
On top of this, Virginia has a rich history of the very thing which the seal represents, from the 1700's onwards. A grand portion of what would become the current United States has the Virginian spirit of "Sic Semper Tyrannis" to thank in at least a large part for its existence. The flag is the only real place that most Virginians and others in the country will get to see the slogan, and it is hammered into our heads in elementary school (at least it was when I was in school), much like the US Constitution is hammered into a middle schooler's head.
Honestly, there's really no reason to change the flag, and it's not like the flag is all that badly designed. It breaks a few soft rules of flag-weaving, but said rules are arbitrary when the flag in all honesty doesn't really serve much of a war-faring purpose, nor is it required to be seen at a distance of much more than a few miles, and it's quite obvious which flag you're seeing when you're in the state in which the flag is being flown.
At sea, the flag is never flown without a US flag waving above it, so it's not as if someone will mistake you for another country when you're waving it.
Most places it's visible are up close and personal, like at the local school or inside the city Walmart.
PTSDSquirrel
Good flag, but I think NM has an even better one. Maybe best in the country.
Why he couldn't have picked out the boring Flag of the State of Washington, rather than call out Virginia for it's Death to Tyrants motif?
Well, at least more people get to see "Thus Always to Tyrants" this way.
Flags don't need to be "inclusive" they just need to reflect the Native culture of the founders of the Nation that the flag is going to represent.
Also another consideration; Party Flags.
firered sk no. If they refuse to assimilate into the main culture then that's their own problem. The dominant culture can choose how they govern, how they design their things, based on their own likings, their own culture and their own symbolism. They don't have to care about anyone else, it's their nation.
@@Holy_Hobo But indigenous cultures were the main cultures before colonization came about. They shouldn't have to assimilate into anything for any reason.
@@reillywalker195 It's their fault for not being strong enough to defend their territory, and it is the invader's kindness of not completely getting rid of them. The dominant culture gets do decide how it wants to rule, not the other way around.
@firered sk "you have to"
according to whom? You are in control, you get to decide what you want to do with your control. You don't "have to" do anything. If your people failed to protect their homeland, then you can't just rely on the invaders to "be nice" to you. Letting you continue to live is kindness enough.
Respect is also not a default emotion. It's an earned attribute.
I think there is still some consideration to be made. If Bosnia's flag contained a star and crescent, it would break up overnight.
Sidenote for 2:05 showing Åland island flag as good. The reverse color scheme there in the bad column to the right, is currently used as well. It’s the flag of Hälsingland, my province, and one of only four Swedish provincial flags, since Hälsingland was a largely independent kingdom when Swedes expanded north in the 12 century. It was also at a point in time called Alir, which I think is a gorgeous name for a country. Anyways. Carry on, always enjoy your videos 💕
Already made some flags before doing researched, glad I found this tho.
It explains why a few of them worked and the reat not, now I can make all of them work better.
Thank you for making this video :)
a more relatable version of "recognisable as a lapel pin" is perhaps : recognisable as a flag emoji
Ooh! That's a good point. I was think more along the lines of military personally wearing little pins on their uniforms.
John Daniels That is truely the most important feature (although a HOIV meme also works)
Nothing wrong with the flag of Veneto. It's a homage to the old Venetian flag, and if design infringes on symbolism, the latter should be prioritised.
All of those beginning examples are awesome
Great
*Now I can create a flag for my minecraft dictatorship that loves potatoes*
Hey! Great fun, but I've gotta disagree in the context of worldbuilding.
The flag principles are based on current taste, but as we know, taste is subject to change. In history we've seen all sorts of flags, some emphasising design, some recognisability, some familiarity or ideology... take the soviet flags, they are all similar because they evoke a time of blocs, not countries.
Similarly, text on flags, while shunned, was a staple of regimental banners or local small revolution flags. So why wouldn't the superpower Virginia have a flag with the sic semper tyrannis motto, if the cultural zeitgeist of the era favours it?
Take the royal banner flags from the XVIII century, all white fields with scutcheons, the royal arms, oftern super-elaborate, on them. Hardly distinhuishable from afar, (which is why flags became colorful and simple again) but a very recognisable sign of XVIII century vexillology.
That's entirely fair. I cannot disagree with any of your points whatsoever. In hindsight, I perhaps should have put a historical context bit in the video.
And please notice, I'm saying this ONLY in the context of worldbuilding. Great video on how to design flags! Other than that, I've learned tons thank to your videos and probably I've got a lot more to learn yet.
The point of a flag originally was to be used as a rallying point or to clearly identify a commander in the heat of a battle. Earlier eras in Europe used heraldry symbolism, although flags were still to be seen even then.
The British Lion and the French Fleur-de-lis are examples of national symbols that were also used on flag designs in the past to indicate some sort of national identity.
Sure, there might be some elements of current taste, and there definitely were awful flags (even considered awful at the time) flown by various national armies. The problem comes when trying to actually use a flag, where the awful flags usually get weeded out when confusion reigns on the battle field. You can tell what army actually tested their flags in battle, as those battle-tested flags tend to follow the general design principles.
You can even see this with the various flags of the Confederate States of America, which went through quite a few variations including one that looked almost identical to the union flag (and obviously caused all sorts of problems on a battlefield). The "blood stained flag" with the familiar stars & bars is a good example of what they ended up flying at the end of the war to make something distinctive and simple enough to last. That the battle flag has survived for several generations (both for ire and ridicule as well as for "southern pride") is a good example of how flag design weeded out the bad concepts and left an incredibly simple yet distinctive design that can't be mistaken for nearly any other flag.
As an interesting contrast to words on a flag through, the Roman standard with the letters SPQR is something clearly recognizable even to modern history buffs as representing but only one entity.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vexilloid_of_the_Roman_Empire.svg
If you saw even a modern army with say a tank flying this flag, you would know clearly what organization they represented... even if it would be anachronistic. It would even be clearly recognized from a distance. Yes, I know actual Roman flags got quite ornate and complicated, but the principle still remains that the distinctive elements remained and that an army who used a standard of some kind in battle would tend to strip out the unnecessary baggage on a flag.
There is room for differing tastes, but the idea of keeping it simple always plays a role on successful flags.
GlanderBrondurg Successful, sure. Flavourful, historied or natural... depends. Remember that the idea of a "national flag" doesn t exist until the French Revolution. Before that you've got city arms, noblemen's banners, king's colours (which depend on dynasty, not country)...
... and in war, regiment banners (or other combat units), not national flags or even necessarily dynastic flags.
Actual battle-tested flags, for instance in the 18th century, rarely conformed to modern-day minimalist design principles. They may have had a few features that made the general side recognisable but then could go completely bonkers with added devices, symbols, colours, frills, or other ornaments, like
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Woodville_Richard_Caton_Napoleon_Croix_dHonneur_1912_Oil_On_Canvas.jpg
(Black eagle on gold, for the HR Emperor. Plus various ornaments on the eagle, coloured triangles along the borders, and nice golden bands on the hoist side, and this is a rather simple design. Plenty of more complicated examples from the 17th c. up to the Napoleonic Wars.)
That plain vexillum is only one example. Actual vexilla had a wide variety of symbols, text, or images on them.
if history tells us anything, then it's that the importance of simplicity and clarity is widely overestimated in battle flags. Sure, it may be a bit unfortunate if your flag is mostly identical to the enemy's, and modern war has changed things quite a bit, but historically, people were just fine with garish, ornamental designs.
You should've talked about Bangladesh and how the circle isn't in the exact center.
They put it a bit off the center so when it is flapping in the wind it looks in the center
prod japans wasn’t in the centre but then they changed it
I live near pocatello and I remember seeing that design. Wild.
I've never heard of this channel but this video showed up in my recommended. This was a great video I really enjoyed but what made me investigate your channel further and subscribe is you called the description box the doobly doo. Did I encounter a nerdfighter in the wild? Either way great video, and I look forward to seeing more!
Ok, but the venezia flag is just glorious.
Jacksfilms must see this!
NEPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL
Nipple is such a great country
Yes!
American/German Mapper What is Nepal? I live in Lapen!
Raechel914 *NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAAAAAl
great video. would love to see one like this on crest design!
thanks for the vid. i just hopped on paint 3d in windows 10 and made a flag cut diagonally in 4 ways just to try it out and put it threw flag waver
I know PEI's flag is no Union Jack but I think lumping us in with Brown County and Liberia is a bit excessive.
Zachary MacDonald no leaf deserves such a fate
3:32 no seals for Virginia but West Virginia can because were allowed do do it and it looks good
Lesson 1:
You need to add as much text as possible
Lamb Sauceror No dumbass
@@kartyrn9254 r/woooosh
@@caiawlodarski5339 It's Brazil's motto, not a description but a national symbol per se, like the Shahada in Saudi Arabia's flag.
Yes
I’m making a custom geography series and they need flags so this helps a lot thank you so much and my design that I made for one is imagine finland with a cross and a hollow circle where the lines intersect and half of the background is red and white aka finland but black over Poland and looks imperial
Brazilian flag has 4 colours and a text in the center.. I still think it is beautiful, very recognizable
Are you brazilian?
The text and white stripe ruin it.
@@Alice-gr1kb Oh yeah.. completely ruined.. Totally.. I don't know how these people are not ashamed of this... I mean.. For real.. If they were a wee bit smart, they would've consulted someone very important like yourself before commit this atrocity, right?
I'd rather my state, Wisconsin, have a piece of cheese on a blue background than the current flag.
Cheese. Om nom nom
It's be appropriate and unique
A piece of cheese and a badger (double nod to sports and 1800's coal mining), heck, the cheese would be a double nod too. Cheese and Badger, the new, improved flag :P
Or anything Packers releated. Just no helmets or expicllty football releated.
*TCHIZ*
Yay you mentioned the Colorado flag! :)
Was in colorado recently. Great place.
you are #Pround
I've been fascinated by flags at a young age, so I like designing some. I found my drawing of a world map with their flags on it, and they're not great I guess.
Designing a flag for me is HARD. You have to think about the pattern, colours, other stuff.
I like countries too, so I made a flag for my country of Koprivia. It's a basic horizontal design, with green stripes on the top and bottom, and a white stripe in the middle. Green could stand for nature and nettles (in slovene, nettle is called kopriva. That's how it got its name) and white could mean the people and purity.
Well my design I did for a game once and kept around for other things, does break a couple of these guidelines. The device isn't in the middle; rather it's in the vertical center of the largest area left by the cross (being the bottom-left rather than the top-left). Except, very to the right of that area. The cross itself uses three colours, and includes both light-against-dark and light-against-light, but I think the shape of it (simplistic but unorthodox crossing of T-shapes) makes it look okay regardless. It is in a rectangle of fairly standard proportions but it does technically use 6 colours, which is pushing it a bit. Two of them are merely lightened/darkened versions of other colours on it and only found in the device, however. They are more akin to shading than distinct colours. To all intents and purposes, I'd describe it as a four-colour flag. I do think my choice of colours works well. It symbolises the idea of a tribalist environmentalist-traditionist island state with a sacred animal operating under what it coigned a "hatblock stratocracy" (rule-by-combat-contest, but with a cultural shame toward high intelligence vying for positions of power, hence "hatblock"). There is a cyan on the edge of green to represent the tropical waters, a bright yellow to represent the sacred bumble bee, a dark brown to represent the sacred earth, and a central strong magenta as it's proudly run through with the blood of the people. The device is a star inside a diamond, representing all places travelled outwards from this land, a tradition of permanent exile for native leavers who wish to live elsewhere, e.g. no return.
I got bored of the game itself but I do remember someone inviting me to their group of nations within it because he thought the flag design with good. I'd definitely use it again for something more permanent like writing a book. I like your tests! It's still distinct... enough... as a monochrome. Though that is the weakness there. It works well in that flag-waver program (which I love that it includes a night mode!). :)
Something that's worth considering when designing a large amount of flags: Realistically they're not all going to be good. It might be kind of silly, but it could be an idea to intentionally include a few bad ones.
Hey! Thanks for this new and great video! The flags I have designed are all vertical (it looks very medievalesque on drawings and is more easily recognized when hanging from walls or over gates)
You haven't mentioned that the design is usually horizontal, and I'd like to know what you think about that...
I implicitly say it in the ratio section. But yes vertical flags are great for the reason you outline. And there's no need to limit a flag to either shape, you could easily design a flag that works well both vertically and horizontally.
Artifexian Oh I'm sorry I didn't really notice you said that... thanks for answering!
Switzerland :D
I made alignment flags, chaotic good, chaotic neutral, and chaotic evil. CG has bright colors (top to bottom blue, pinkish red, orange, orangeish yellow) with white chaos symbol. Chaotic neutral has a bit darker colors and gray chaos symbol, chaotic evil has even darker colors and black chaos symbol. The colors represent a sunset/sunrise because clouds are random in placement and can effect the colors and different types of chaotic alignments. Planning on making more alignment flags (lawful & neutral).
1:04
Cgp grey reference
I actually like how Brazil’s flag has text
It’s one of my favorite flags tbh
No its clearly not 😂😂 only because its distinctive does it make it good??
Ivan S. You know it’s considered an exception of the “no written words” rule by professionals right?
@@nerfbeard4809 whatever makes you sleep at night pal, but if the design was good, there would be at least some other flags resembling it... You just got used to it due to seeing it since you were born obviously, or you just wanna be the hipster type that "like everything thats different"
🇺🇸🇺🇾🇲🇾🇱🇷🇬🇷🇹🇬
🇦🇽🇩🇰🇫🇮🇫🇴🇳🇴🇸🇪
🇧🇸🇨🇺🇨🇿🇩🇯🇪🇭🇪🇷🇬🇾🇬🇶🇯🇴🇵🇷🇵🇭🇵🇸🇸🇸🇸🇹🇸🇽🇹🇱🇻🇺🇿🇦🇿🇼
🇯🇪🇯🇲🇧🇮🇲🇰🇬🇧
"Just so we're on the same page here, your wrong" -Jan Misali
Ivan S.
There are so many things wrong with what you just said I’m not even gonna bother.
As an Austraila, your criticism is perfectly fair. This is why many of us support adopting a distinctively Australian flag which is not based upon the flag New Zealand has been flying since 1869. But while we're on the topic, what do you think of the square flag of Wagga Wagga? (Link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagga_Wagga#Flag )
It's...um...colorful. :/
On the topic of aussie flags, I really like this redesign: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_proposed_Australian_flags#/media/File:Under_the_Southern_Cross_Australia_Flag_(By_Justin_R_Smith).svg
Is it okay to fade from one color into another? I might do that for one of my story’s flags.
In my opinion a good example of state/provincial flags look at Alberta and Saskatchewan. Their have things you'll see in the provinces and 1 is very simple while the other is quite complex. Hope this is helpful advice
"Veneto, italy"
Alright bye.
Actar Venice tried
@@suwinkhamchaiwong8382 the irony is,it defies lots of the rules yet it's still extremely recognizable even when you make a miniature of it, which is what really matters. If you can easily understand what place the flag represents from a distance and can represents the people under it, the flag is doing its job, and given that the flag of Venice is used by the separatists who want Veneto to be its own country... the flag is doing its job perhaps too well.
That’s what I did
Omfg you noticed Wisconsin! You hate our flag but you noticed us.
I am more than aware of all the US state flags and a good chunk of your city flags. They are endlessly fascinating. Some of brilliant, others are terrible, other straddle the line.
I'm more suprised he noticed me, Pocatello. Agreed, our old flag sucked.
Usually everyone forgets about Wisconsin
I think that your flag is a clear demonstration of the principle: if it's done following the rules/recommendations, it doesn't mean that it will necessarily be good.
0:36
me, watching this video on a 2016 macbook pro:
Merry Christmas!
Right back at ya. Hope you have an epic holiday.
Merry missmas
Marry crisler
MERRY CRISIS
I’m glad to see ur using my states flag in the thumbnail
2:39 can i get a link or something to that thing of flags shape things, they look good
i just found your channel and as a scifi author, this is a GOLDMINE. THANK YOU.