Hundreds pitch ideas for a new Maine state flag design
Jul. 20—Maine's secretary of state asked for a little help choosing a design for what could become Maine's new state flag.
She got it, and then some.
The Maine Department of the Secretary of State said Friday that it had received over 400 submissions in a design contest for the new flag that voters will consider adopting this fall. The deadline for submissions was 5 p.m. Friday.
Assuming the designers all followed the rules, all 400 feature a pine tree and star.
"I'm excited that there are so many submissions with different interpretations of what the pine tree and star might look like on the flag because I think it shows the creativity of Maine artists and designers and people who are excited about the symbols that represent us as a state," Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said.
The submissions haven't been made public and Bellows' staff said it will take time to compile, process and review them.
Lawmakers last year approved legislation calling for a referendum on a new flag that would be based on the original state flag used in the early 1900s. The law establishes the design concept, stating that the flag must include a buff background, a pine tree in the center and a blue five-point star in the upper corner.
But even with those strict parameters, there's still been considerable debate about what the flag would look like.
One design produced by a Portland company has been a commercial success, and some have pushed for that design to go to voters in the fall. But flag experts have pointed out that the popular design is a stylized take on the original 1901 flag, which featured a more realistic pine tree with roots and fluffy branches.
The 1901 flag was replaced in 1909 with the current state flag, which features the state seal, with a moose resting under a pine tree flanked by a farmer and seaman, on a blue background.
Bellows said Friday morning that her office would not be releasing any submissions publicly until after the close of the contest. The Press Herald has requested copies of the submissions, though it's not clear when they will be released.
The secretary of state said Friday that she hadn't yet viewed any of the submissions and that she will do so with an eye toward making a decision on a final design sometime in August.
She said she will be soliciting help from an advisory group but would not name any of the people she intends to seek input from "in order to ensure there is no outside politicking."
Lawmakers last spring approved a proposal that would have delayed the referendum until 2026 and created a five-member commission to assist Bellows with approving a new flag design, but the bill died because lawmakers approved funding after statutory adjournment and the proposal wasn't signed by the governor.
"Ultimately, the law requires that I make the decision," Bellows said. "I'm certainly going to include members of my team and seek some expert advice to guide my decision."
The contest, which was open to anyone, provided fairly strict criteria. The law, in addition to outlining the color and items to be included in the design, stipulates the distance the star must be from the hoist side and the upper border of the flag.
And a design brief put forward by the secretary of state's office said the flag "should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory and it can be easily recognizable from a distance."
The design selected by Bellows will go to voters, who will decide whether to change the official state flag in the November referendum. It will be used by the Maine Army National Guard and provided to the office of the adjutant general as a model approved by the secretary of state.
"We have a lot of work to do and I will be looking at each and every design myself to evaluate if they meet the requirements of the law," Bellows said. "But ultimately, it is voters who will decide. Do they prefer the 1901 model or the 1909 version?"
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