What goes into a flag's design?

With its broad stripes and bright stars, our nation's flag demands respect. But ask an expert and it turns out that not all flags are created equal. Mo Rocco takes a look at what makes a really bad flag.

[@alexthompson9516]

That Pocatello flag really is a hot goddamn mess.

[@forregom]

It looks like something you'd find on a water bottle.

[@josephtafur]

It is

[@tearlach47]

I didn't expect those 4th graders to be so cultured and artistic.

[@aglassofmilk5779]

Sean Wilson they aren't, all they made are rectangles with different colors with rare triangles

[@mxferro]

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” Picasso

[@nib1448]

@@aglassofmilk5779 damn does it feel good to put a literal 9 year old down like that

[@joeyscerbo7776]

a glass of milk You could say that about every flag then. Those designs are better than what you could come up with I’m sure and they are certainly better than the current flag

[@meechisminners]

@@aglassofmilk5779 and the Mona Lisa is just some colorful scribbles, what's your point?

[@denzal689]

I emailed my flag redesign to my city's 7 city council members back on September 25, and 2 of them responded so far... They aren't interested

[@agustinsoto6040]

denzal689 😂😂

[@silverlve70]

His TED talk was pretty cool to watch.

[@belgianmapping2920]

Maryland's flag was voted the best flag in the USA

[@camatzuma]

Belgian Mapping That's dumb it's not very simple and has to much colours

[@french_2049]

In my personal opinion the flag of South Carolina is the best

[@Ruminations09]

According to which vote? Because the vast majority of votes rank New Mexico, Alaska, or Texas as the best flag. In terms of state pride in their flag, Maryland and Colorado both match or outrank those 3, but unbiased opinion polls do not regularly list Maryland all that high.

[@markwalshopoulos]

Belgian Mapping NAVA voted for New Mexico

[@dn4339]

I can agree

[@mistertwister2000]

"You probably didn't even know your city had a flag." The only people who willingly watched this video absolutely know they have a city flag.

[@fpsproductions6073]

I thought the same thing too. I notice that often subjects like this that are specific, draw mostly the people who know the subject well. For example a quiz on cars showing others’ results at the end, is skewed because the people who took the quiz are mostly car enthusiasts. It seems like there should be a word for this regularly occurring “anomaly” per se, where people are drawn to their respective areas of interest and thus alter what logical assumptions could have previously been made.

[@laustchristensen4661]

1:47 where is Denmark 😢😢

[@alfredenlund3878]

Laust Christensen hahahahahhahahah

[@alfredenlund3878]

Laust Christensen lololooololoooooollolllllo

[@arthurmcvey8231]

as a resident of Juneau and one who never really liked our flag I was surprised to see our flag and hope to redesign it

[@RachelIdahogirl]

Ya! I've been waiting for this segment since you guys came to town!!

[@LimitedWard]

Having an iconic city flag is underrated for building pride for where you come from. Some of the best city flags transcend international borders and become recognizable symbols around the world. Amsterdam's triple crosses are a great example of this.

[@aconsciousnaut5323]

4:15 one is actually good in my opinion, only needs to remove those numbers which maybe represents a year.

[@leslieelaine8499]

I just love Mo. So clever and cute.

[@thumbsdownbandit]

4:15 That kid had a great basic idea for a new flag. Much better than the flag the administration of Pocatello chose in 2017.

[@cassidoti6799]

Pocatello, I'm sorry, uv gotta change ur city flag. Esp bf 2017 ends.

[@dbrown9185]

cas sidoti the just did

[@3seven5seven1nine9]

Warrenville's flag is yellow with a black stripe and an acorn and that's what I remember

[@georglp3006]

Now I get the Pocatelo Joke

[@Misterz3r0]

4:06 Potato Flag all the way!

[@ayschiefer]

A bear smashing an atom bruh moment

[@kindle9597]

OUCH! TURN AWAY!

[@DanielOnFire101]

The first flag on screen was the flag of Dallas. I live there lol

[@mr.zimbel3164]

The flag of my city is better: We have a red flag with a white shield in the middle. On top of the shield are two white weasels and at the bottom is one white weasle. My city is called Wesel, which is similar to weasel.

[@marcelo9866]

Americans: our city flags are terrible. Me (brazilian): amateurs Don't believe me? Check this out, the flag of the city of Chapadão do Céu in Goiás state, Brazil: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapad%C3%A3o_do_C%C3%A9u

[@Limpshot_McGee]

The girl's flag at 4:13 should've gotten it. Get rid of the numbers in the top left and it'd look like a real flag.

[@aglassofmilk5779]

Limpshot McGee that flag is ugly

[@galostick]

what was that face at the end?"

[@noddo3168]

Probably a transistion to another segment or a flag designed by someone to represent the logo of CBS Sunday Morning

[@johndotto2773]

It's what CBS Sunday Morning always do

[@WangMotions]

As a Chicagoan, I am so proud for our flag

[@smithsmithy123]

Finland is not Scandinavia. Get your story right.

[@Federico84]

www.vexen.co.uk/countries/files/scandinavia.jpg

[@regards7229]

please get your vocabulary right, i call that geography

[@bonyuri5211]

Nordic the the right word

[@coalredd5777]

Kingdom of BonBon where have I seen you before?

[@crazyoncoffee]

Thank you

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

"Early next year" was not quite working out... they are just now presenting six possible designs to be graded and then the winner will probably be announced towards fall... and all six candidates look way better than the poor marketing logo that got printed on flags.

[@iameuropean5301]

Man! Here in Europe city flags look way better! Way more classic and traditional and every city in Europe (I think) is valued and known from everyone in the city!

[@aglassofmilk5779]

This World Needs Better Leaders Europe used to have beautiful flags, now all you guys have are boring rectangles

[@pikachuchujelly7628]

Sadly, the country flags aren't as interesting. Way too many tricolours, and too much use of red, white, and blue.

[@stevenborck1279]

The Milwaukee's flag got redesigned and now looks much better.

[@cloudzcojuangco]

*Googles new Pocatello flag*

[@EnderDeveloper]

“What does your city’s flag look like?” Nothing (imagine having a flag for your city)

[@kris220b]

> for example the scandinavian countries *shows 2 scandinavion, 1 nordic, and leaves out 1 scandi* well you tried : P

[@FullaEels]

Edinburgh's flag is literally a picture of edinburgh castle.

[@xander1052]

and Greater London's flag is just the top of middlesex with a river slapped on the bottom :P

[@bradleyilagan3939]

Is there any hope for the Philippine provinces?

[@TXMEDRGR]

I do not like my city flag, it has the name of the city plastered across it. I like flags that you have know to understand where it is from.

[@MKSmith-qi6uf]

Love Roman Mars; can't stand Mo Rocca.

[@phatato]

Chicago has the best city flag

[@neptunethecat7956]

Needs more JPEG

[@rateeightx]

My City's Flag Is Ugly.

[@sdcair]

The flag of San Francisco is not that bad I think.

[@josephtafur]

Plano TX flag its not that bad.

[@DakkogiRauru23]

Joseph Tafur it has words on it. That always makes a bad flag by vexillological standards.

[@scuter7856]

Plano's flag really isn't that bad, but it would work much better as a logo.

[@mardiffv.8775]

No, Plano has a bad flag. It misses simple symbols.

[@yesdaddy408]

hi

[@sleak9783]

Whatch a kid draw a swastika 4:01

[@mxferro]

His generation are the next hitler...oh i mean TRUMP youth.

[@MrOskaren]

wtf!? you said scandinavian flags without showing the danish flag.. not cool, the other flags are just twisted copy pastas of the danish flag.

[@aglassofmilk5779]

I don't like any of the simple flag designs, we should remake all of our flags to make them more like flags from the medieval times in Europe. Flags back then had horses, people, animals, different flag shapes, and much more detail. Now all we have are rectangles, very boring.