Chicago Flag ranks 2nd in national design competition

Some vexillographers who like to think cosmically have tried to design a Flag of the Earth. Some individuals and organizations have promoted designs for a flag, however, none of these designs have managed to gain much broad recognition.

The one below is my personal favorite -

Another Earth flag was created around the same time in 1970 by a farmer from Illinois named James W. Cadle. Cadle's version of the Earth flag consists of a blue circle representing Earth in the center of the flag, a segment of a large yellow circle representing the sun and a small white circle for the moon, all on a black background. It is particularly popular amongst SETI researchers and is used by SETI worldwide. It was flown half staff when Carl Sagan died.

"Copyright 2004"

Vexillology (via wikipedia) - The scholarly study of flags. It was originally considered a sub-discipline of heraldry, and is still occasionally seen as such. It is sometimes considered a branch of semiotics. It is formally defined in the FIAV (Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques) constitution as "the creation and development of a body of knowledge about flags of all types, their forms and functions, and of scientific theories and principles based on that knowledge." A person who studies flags is a vexillologist, and a person who designs flags is a vexillographer.

The North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) has broken the entire field of study down to five basic principles it calls Good Flag, Bad Fag -

1. Keep It Simple (The flag should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory)

2. Use Meaningful Symbolism (The flag's images, colors, or patterns should relate to what it symbolizes)

3. Use 2 or 3 Basic Colors (Limit the number of colors on the flag to three, which contrast well and come from the standard color set)

4. No Lettering or Seals (Never use writing of any kind or an organization's seal)

5. Be Distinctive or Be Related (Avoid duplicating other flags, but use similarities to show connections)

#3 Denver CO 8.86

#150 Pocatello ID 1.48

Worst. Flag. Ever.