Think of a symbol of the South, and one thing probably comes to mind first: a flag that’s inspired congressional debates, guerilla protests , bans on Amazon, and flagpole-vaulting heroines .

For the past month, a team of Dallas-based designers has worked to come up with a new symbol that has nothing to do with the Confederate flag.

“What are the icons, the people, that we elevate to represent the South?” says Gus Granger, founding principal at 70kft, the creative agency. “What are the visuals that we hold aloft to represent that? They’re old. And–to be charitable–they’re divisive.”

70kft

The team took on a challenge from the radio show Studio 360 to design the symbol. While some might question whether the South needs a symbol at all–and the designers themselves questioned that premise at first–they decided it would be useful to create something without the old associations.

After considering hundreds of possibilities, including more traditional symbols like the magnolia and pecan pie, they landed on something abstract and modern: a crisscrossing pattern of red and blue stripes.

“It’s about individuals and unity,” says Granger. “Respecting differences, and the differences of people as they come together defining the fabric of the South . . . we’re able to come together to create something beautiful. And the angled, downward pointing that the stripes create is a nod to the compass point of the South.”

70kft

They also mocked up a series of ads celebrating Southern “rebels” who have nothing to do with the rebellion of the Civil War, but instead things like the Underground Railroad, women’s suffrage, and the Civil Rights Movement.