There is a scene in Stan Freberg’s classic 1961 comedy album, a spoof on early American history, in which George Washington criticizes Betsy Ross’s prototype of a new national flag. (“Are you kidding with these colors? Red, white, and blue?”) After griping for a while, Washington agrees to take the flag.
“You want it on a hanger?” Ross asks him.
“No,” says General Washington. “I’ll just run it up the flagpole, see if anybody salutes.”
Last month, in a column adapted from my newsletter Arguable, I ran a different design up the flagpole: I proposed a fix for the flag of Massachusetts, which has been a subject of unresolved controversy for decades. The current flag features a Native American standing in the center against a dark-blue shield with a golden bow and arrow pointed downward. Above the image of the Algonquian Native American an arm holds a sword aloft in what some interpret as a menacing attitude, while running beneath the shield is a ribbon with an ungainly Latin motto about peace, liberty, and the sword.
For years Beacon Hill has talked about devising a new flag for the Commonwealth. But a panel charged with drawing up a better design managed only to run out the clock (and spend $100,000). So I decided to help the politicos. I proposed that the Massachusetts flag be reduced to its most compelling element: the stately Algonquian native in gold, standing at the center of a field of white. No sword, no ribbon, no motto.That would make a truly striking flag, I suggested — one clearly connected to the present banner, but no longer subverted by features that have grown archaic.
Advertisement
Then I asked readers for their thoughts.
The response was gratifyingly lively. Quite a few readers seconded my motion for a “standing Algonquian” flag. However, I was persuaded to adopt one change by the many who pointed out that a gold-on-white color scheme would be difficult to see. They recommended retaining the existing dark-blue shield to provide visual contrast, which would make the flag stand out even at a distance.
To be fair, several readers insisted the existing flag should not be changed at all — “it’s beautiful as it is,” wrote one. A few correspondents challenged the value of even having a state flag. “Flags are traditionally signs of conquest and subjugation,” a reader observed.
Advertisement
But numerous readers took seriously the challenge to come up with a new design for the Massachusetts state flag and shared their ideas with me. Of the more than two dozen submissions I received, here are seven of the most intriguing.
1. Jonathan Abbett of Brookline expressed qualms about including any human figure as an emblem of Massachusetts. He suggested instead that the state flag revert to the symbol of a pine tree that represented Massachusetts from the time of the Revolutionary War until the second half of the 20th century. Though the tree was historically green, Abbett’s version is gold against a blue shield — a conscious echo of the current flag.
2. Eric Niermeyer’s proposed redesign begins with the red St. George’s Cross, the traditional flag of England, to acknowledge that Massachusetts has always been the hub of New England. He too advocates reviving the pine tree from the historic Massachusetts flag. And, borrowing from the design of Quebec’s provincial flag, Niermeyer places a tree in each of the four quadrants created by the cross.
3. Jan C. Hardenbergh, a Sudbury activist, suggested that a new flag design combine two elements readily identified with Massachusetts: an outline map of the state and an image of cranberries. The illustration he submitted is meant to be not a finished design but a rough prototype; I could imagine it ultimately bearing a resemblance to the graceful South Carolina flag, which also centers an agricultural element (a palmetto tree).
Advertisement
4. Cal Nez of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico and Mark Wagner, the founding director the Binienda Center for Civic Engagement at Worcester State University, advocated uniting the Native American of the current flag with an English Pilgrim, peacefully sharing an ear of corn. They would replace the state’s martial motto with a more humane and sympathetic message: “With Knowledge of the Past, With Hope for the Future.”
5. Keith Eddings of Newburyport was one of a number of readers who argued for a state flag featuring an Atlantic cod, in recognition of the exceptional importance of cod fishing in Massachusetts history. The cod has been a notable symbol of the Commonwealth for centuries; to Eddings, the regal fish and the name of the state are all the new flag needs.
6. Westwood resident Colin Cassidy’s prototype of a four-quadrant flag encompasses (1) the traditional pine tree symbol, (2) the equally traditional codfish, (3) a book to symbolize the learning that has always been important in Massachusetts, and (4) the Berkshire mountains to highlight the state’s natural beauty.
7. Barrett Coakley, a Wellesley reader, reached for a classic image from Massachusetts history: the Mayflower of 1620. The famous ship is surrounded by 13 stars to symbolize the original colonies, and beneath them is a slogan popularized on license plates in the 1980s: “The Spirit of Massachusetts.”
One thing I’ve learned from this project is how strong a pull tradition exerts when people think about flags: Nearly every concept for a redesign incorporated one or more elements with deep roots in the Massachusetts story — the pine tree, the color scheme, the Native American-Pilgrim encounter. Equally clear is that there is no shortage of thoughtful people with smart ideas about how best to symbolize this state. My advice to Beacon Hill? Let the public resolve this issue: Run the proposals in these columns up the flagpole, see if anybody salutes.
Advertisement
Jeff Jacoby can be reached at jeff.jacoby@globe.com. Follow him @jeff_jacoby. To subscribe to Arguable, his weekly newsletter, visit globe.com/arguable.
