California, Texas and New York happen to be the three most populous states respectively. I’m choosing them because their flags also represent the spectrum of state flag design; Texas being well designed, California’s being in the middle, and New York being terrible.

The Good

The flag of Texas: Not as special as Texans believe.

Texas — Texans will identify as a Texan before they will as an American. Unbiasedly I would rank it as the state with the most state pride. I believe consequently Texas probably flies more of its state flag than anyone else. I called Flags Unlimited and asked them what was their highest selling state flag. I think Laura used the word “oodles” and “by far” when she told me Texas. She also said Ohioans are also proud of their flag mostly because of its unique shape.

If you were to ask a Texan why they have so much pride, they will probably give you answers about being their own country before being a state…as if Texas were the only one. (Hawaii, who still sports a British Union Jack on its flag, was also a country if you were wondering)(Vermont and California as well)

It’s also a commonly accepted myth that since Texas is the only state that was a country (still wrong), it is the only state that can fly their flag at the same height as the American flag. As much as Texans want it to be, it’s not true either.

According to the United States Flag Code, any state flag can be flown at the same height as the U.S. flag, but the U.S. flag should be on its right (the viewer’s left).

What can’t be argued is that the Texas flag IS the state identity. All smaller identities, teams, cities, etc. fall under it in the hierarchy. It’s successful because its design is simple, it has a history, and is broad enough to represent all groups who fly it. Other well designed flags would be New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee, and South Carolina.

The “Meh”

Flag of California: the only flag I forgive for breaking RULE NUMBER ONE.

California —The third largest in land area, it has a storied independent history (represented on their flag) and it’s the most populated state. That sounds like a great recipe for a very proud populous. However state pride in California is a bit divided.

In fact, California has such a large amount of people spread out over such a large landmass that NorCal people have very little in common with SoCal people. In 2013, a proposal was put forth to separate California into six separate states.

Even as far back as the 1940's, the “State of Jefferson” in NorCal tried to secede from California. It failed because of poor timing. The date they chose to break away was over-shadowed by an event we call Pearl Harbor.

California’s flag honestly not that bad. I quite like it personally. I like the use of the red bar at the bottom that sets a nice baseline and grounds the design. Even the asymmetry of the star makes it feel well thought out. However the bear is a bit detailed and limits the “can a child draw this from memory” factor. Duplication of the flag usually ends up with a different bear and soon you have no conformity. Not to mention RULE NUMBER ONE*, though of all the offenders, this is my favorite.

However, the flag of California, while still being popular, isn’t the main logo of the California brand. You will certainly see them when visiting California, but not in as strong numbers as states like Texas and Ohio.

Other middle ground state flags would be Hawaii, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, and I’ll even throw Oregon in there for being the only two sided flag of the bunch.

The Ugly

Flag of the State of New York. Also known as “One lady dropped her crown while the other is poking an eagle with a sword, framing Kool-aid Man sun about to consume 18th century ships and a globe. EXCELSIOR!

My wife recently lived near Buffalo, New York for a time. This morning I asked her if she knew what the flag looked like. She had no idea and never remembered seeing one during her stay.

New York is another interesting case because, like California, the state is divided. ‘Downstate’ New Yorkers are fiercely loyal to New York City rather than the state itself. ‘Upstate’ New Yorkers will usually introduce themselves by saying “I am from New York STATE” or “UPSTATE New York”; putting a lot of effort in to telling you where they are not from instead of taking pride in where they are from.

Yet when it comes to flags, Upstaters usually aren’t seen wielding a New York state flag and a New York City resident probably couldn’t tell you what the NYC flag looks like.

Contrast that against similar large historic cities like Chicago and DC who are insanely proud of their city flags. So why do New Yorkers not fly flags at all?

Maybe because design-wise, both New York and NYC flags kinda suck.

If you want to test if your state’s flag is in this category, do what I call, “the tattoo test”. Is your flag simple enough and good looking enough to where someone could/would tattoo it on themselves if they had enough state pride to do so?

If your state flag fails that test or hasn’t been mentioned above, then unfortunately it belongs in this category. But there is hope.