Flags

Via the Nepali Community [?] blog, a ranking of the ten best flags from around the world. The Nepalese blogger guy thinks the Nepalese flag should be on there, but he's wrong; the thin blue banner is not terribly attractive, and the design doesn't make much sense, repetitive but not symmetrical or appealing. Considering the enormity of the undertaking , this ranking turned out pretty good. Except for Kyrgyzstan and perhaps Nunavut, they all deserve consideration. Some of my favorites: I am quite partial to the Gadsden flag (which should be much higher on the list) for both historical and ideological reasons. It should be the official flag of the United States. I also like the North Caucasian Emirate. It's a smiley face! I don't think I've ever seen another one in a flag, although it only lasted three years so maybe too friendly a flag encouraged its enemies. Their number one selection, from the Russian province of Yaroslavl Oblast, is a solid choice. That is one tight axe-bear. I don't know of another flag that has any animal holding a weapon on it, much less the mighty bear.

It's unfortunate that most state flags in the United States aren't very good. Too many of them are just the state seal on a field of blue, although that worked well for the state flag of Virginia(which has a boob and a dead tyrant). Even worse, some have the name of the state on them. Very gauche, and it kind of defeats the purpose of having a flag in the first place though again an exception must be made, this time for California. Too bad it's bear is not holding an axe. What can I say? I'm partial to bears.

Speaking of sexual innuendo, did you know the back of Oregon's flag has a beaver on it? It does! Other than that, nothing special -- it's just the seal (and a poorly detailed rendition at that) with the state name and the year of statehood.

Here's one they missed that I like a lot, although I think the Gadsden Flag covers a lot of the same territory: