PEACHIER PATTERN: A cluttered Georgia state flag gave way to a design that makes the state coat of arms more legible and highlights the state’s identity as one of 13 American colonies.

If you visit Ted Kaye’s home in Portland, Ore., you just might find your state or hometown’s flag snapping in the breeze outside. Kaye, MBA ’79, has collected more than 300 flags from places he’s visited, and he takes pleasure in getting those flags out of storage and running them up the flagpole.

Technology executive Kaye is one of the country’s most active vexillologists—people who study flags—and he participates in the North American Vexillological Association as treasurer and editor of its scholarly journal, Raven. NAVA’s chief activity is connecting the country’s flag hobbyists, but it also has released rankings of American city and state flags, based on polls from its members and the general public. The simplest designs fare the best, while those relying on text or complicated graphics receive poor marks. The rankings have provoked strong reactions, especially in places commended or condemned for their flag. Former governors Jesse Ventura of Minnesota and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas denounced NAVA after their respective state flags were panned.

Arkansas and Minnesota are certainly not alone; Kaye asserts that “we are surrounded by bad flags.” That’s why he compiled a NAVA guide called Good Flag, Bad Flag: How to Design a Great Flag. When Georgia decided to redesign its state flag (a last-ranked example of what NAVA calls “seal on a bedsheet” flags, with a busy official logo imposed over a blue background), it provided members of the flag redesign committee with Good Flag, Bad Flag. The result? A simple, distinctive flag that Georgia voters supported 3 to 1 in a 2004 referendum, and an affirmation of the tasteful design values advocated by what Kaye affectionately calls “the lunatic fringe of the flag community.”

Good Wave, or Bad Vibe? What becomes a flag most? It needs to be easily distinguishable at a distance, often while moving and from either front or back. It waves its erudition lightly, showing the heritage and allegiances of the entity it represents. Excerpted from Good Flag, Bad Flag, here are some vexillological verities:
KEEP IT SIMPLE. “The flag should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory. . . . Most poor designs have the elements of a great flag in them—simplify them by focusing on a single symbol, a few colors, large shapes, and no lettering. Avoid the temptation to include a symbol for everybody.”
	BANGLADESH The rising sun of independence in two bold colors.		TURKMENISTAN A complicated rug with five patterns, when the moon and stars would be enough.
USE MEANINGFUL SYMBOLISM. “The flag’s images, colors, or patterns should relate to what it symbolizes . . . Usually a single primary symbol is best—avoid those that are less likely to be representative or unique. Colors often carry meanings: red for blood or sacrifice, white for purity, blue for water or sky.”
	IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY The Hiawatha’s Belt symbol has represented the five tribes’ unity since before 1600.		NAVAJO NATION More than 20 graphic elements, and none is large enough to be seen easily.
NO LETTERS OR SEALS. “Lettering is nearly impossible to read from a distance, hard to sew, and difficult to reduce to lapel-pin size. . . . Seals were designed for placement on paper to be read at close range. Very few are effective on flags—too detailed. Better to use some element from a seal as a symbol.”
	CÔTES-D’ARMOR The stylized seagull is also the shape of this French département’s coastline.		LOIR-ET-CHER Too many words, and a gray shape clutter up the stylized salamander.

—JOHN MAAS, ’08