this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2024
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Vexillology

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My first flag! For the small city of Morrilton, AR, USA (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/vexillology
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Criticism is welcome!

Symbolism breakdown:

  • The gold semicircle represents the rising or setting sun, a symbol of change. Morrilton is currently growing after a period of decline, so this sun represents the glories of the past and of the future.
  • The white field represents a blank slate, the city's enormous potential to grow. It also represents the sense of morality and community that binds its people together.
  • The green band represents Petit Jean mountain just outside the city, and the semicircular cutout represents the Arkansas River Valley which encompasses Morrilton and many of its neighbors.
  • The ruddy semicircle with white border represents a wine glass; Morrilton is the seat of Conway county, where the sale of alcohol is allowed, surrounded by dry counties to the east, north, and west. The color also represents Morrilton's 3 major educational institutions (UACCM, SCCSD, and Sacred Heart) all of whose primary school colors are a shade of red.
  • The blue band represents the Arkansas River, on whose shores the original settlement was built. This further represents the rich history of the city, as well as the past and present flow of trade along the river, railroads, and I-40.

I feel somewhat confident in the geometry of this design, but I don't know anything about color theory so I'm open to suggestions on that. The present colors were picked with the help of an AI, followed by some mathematical derivation using software and hand tweaking.

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[–] Ghostalmedia 25 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Quick tweak

Green and blue are pretty close to each other on the color spectrum, and they blend together at a distance. I would simplify and remove either the land or the water. They won’t blend into each other, and you still have more than enough symbolism.

The stoke on the wine glass is super smart. I like it. But I agree with the other commenter who recommended unifying the semi circle fill sizes. It simplifies the layout.

I would also pump up the stroke on the wine glass so that is reads a bit better from a distance. Also, that stroke is clever, so play that element up.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

I think this is the perfect solution

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'll miss the land or water if I have to choose one... Maybe some ambiguous teal to be both? Or I could do a much darker green against a lighter blue.

Definitely gonna apply all your other suggestions.

[–] Ghostalmedia 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, there might be a way to make it work by fiddling with color values. Green next to blue can be tough, but it’s not impossible. The trick will be finding a green and blue that are also complimentary and don’t create a pallet that looks like a McDonald’s ball pit.

If you’re new to color theory, do a Google search for color theory / color pallet tools. There are a lot of good ones out there. Adobe has a nice free one.

You might also be able to represent land another way. Like using a shape or illustration instead or color.

That said, as someone who’s been doing this for few decades now and directs some design teams, my advice is to keep symbolism to like 2 or 3 things. One you go over that, it can really be easy to get messy harder to pull off. Just my 2¢.

That said, I like where you’re going with this. Will this be officially adopted by the area?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

keep symbolism to like 2 or 3 things. One you go over that, it can really be easy to get messy harder to pull off.

Point taken.

Will this be officially adopted by the area?

I certainly intend to try and get it in front of the council, but they weren't actively looking to get a flag. Folks around here can be hesitant to change, so I'm not getting my hopes up.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I don’t know if this helps, but it looks like an alligator poking his head out of the water.

[–] AppaYipYip 4 points 10 months ago

I thought the same thing!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

O dang it does

[–] rockSlayer 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Personally I'm not a fan of how the semicircles are different sizes, otherwise this is a great design!

[–] aeronmelon 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

A mallard duck, leering at me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Lol

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

This is a really nice flag! You're right to feel confident about the geometry—it's great. The colors, however, could use some work.

  • In general, the shades you've chosen just aren't really vibrant. Look at other flags, and you'll see that they use pretty saturated blues, reds, yellows, greens, etc.
  • You want to avoid colors that look really similar being right next to each other. You do this for the most part—for example, you separate the red and green with a white outline, which is great—but the green and blue are a problem. Green and blue are already pretty similar colors, but the shades you've shown make them almost identical. I'd make them much more different (for example, make the blue very dark and the green less teal) or, like another comment suggested, remove one of the colors entirely.
[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Motown.

[–] TropicalDingdong 2 points 10 months ago

Its a dinosaur.