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| Look briefly. This flag isn't pretty. |
Talk about putting lipstick on a pig. Whoever dreamed up the flag for the City of Jacksonville, Florida must have had indigestion that night. Someone should have his vexillologist license revoked. Whoever approved this as the official flag of the city has probably been voted out of office for decades and yet the banner still waves.
Recognize the figure in front of all the converging rays? New Orleans' own Andrew Jackson on horseback just as he is posed in Jackson Square in this fair city. Jacksonville couldn't even come up with it's own image of Old Hickory. To make matters more derivative, Jacksonville's official nickname is "The River City." Really? The only one in the whole wide world? That's a unique distinction. Not "The Bad Flag City?"
Compare Jacksonville's flag to New Orleans'.
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A thing of beauty: New Orleans' flag.
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New Orleans' flag isn't my favorite but it is better than most. It is simple. A school child can draw it. I'm not a fan of the narrow red and blue stripes and I think the flag could use an update with a little more oomph. There's no need to rush though. A redesign would probably involve committees and public hearings and debates and suggestions that it should be black and gold, which it should not. I wouldn't be adverse to wider stripes colored green and purple, which are certainly New Orleans colors and would stand out from other American city flags. Probably it's best not to try to fix something that isn't broken.
Plenty of city flags are hung off front porches in New Orleans. Probably far more than are hung off the front porches in Jacksonville, FL.
My favorite city flag? This one:
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| Chicago. Now those are nice proportions. |
I only visited this city once and I don't recall ever seeing the flag flying proudly. I was a younger man and while I liked Chicago, I didn't love it. The mass transit made an impression. I love subways and elevated lines that don't get stuck in traffic. I doubt I would enjoy the winters. I'm happy in New Orleans.
2 comments:
"I wouldn't be adverse to wider stripes colored green and purple"
Well, you're probably not alone in that but I would beg you all to leave us this small remnant of understatement and visual good taste.
For what it's worth, Jackson is not New Orleans' own anything, the man was Tennessee through and through, and welcome they are to him. (I know you know that, but I don't want you led astray by the odd statue and song. (The man fought everybody, so the Battle of New Orleans was no biggie, is all.)
I was thinking that the pose is more New Orleans' own, the Jackson that is on the UNO logo.
Someone in our household got her degree focussing on Native American studies and Old Hickory is not a welcome topic of conversation at chez King. I prefer to remember how he took on Biddle and the National Bank.
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