Now I will admit that I’m a CGP Grey fan and thus biased, but I do think this rebuttal does feel more contrarian than reasoned.
He mentions the historical use of flags was for easy recognition at sea and in war and thus not really needed by established land-locked colonies, but I’d argue recognizability is still the main purpose of flags. I’d actually argue it’s more important now since we see so many more flags in our lifetime than anyone did 200 years ago. How often do you see states listed by or next to their flags now? Take this Wikipedia article on state populations. Do you need the flags to identify each state? Of course not. But they do enforce instant recognition of the state and make it easier to find the state you care about at a glance (so long as the state has a distinct flag).
Beyond that, he mentions the historical meaning of seals, but that need not be lost by a flag redesign. Take the proposal for the Keystone Flag, which reuses the colors of the seal while adding new meaning via symbolism. Both can be used as conversation points to teach about the history of the state, while the latter gains the benefit of being visually distinct.
He also mentions that the point of seals was to be visually intricate not because of the history they represent, but for security purposes. Why, then, do we need what is basically a watermark on our flag? Does it trump the desire for a visually appealing and meaningful flag just because it’s old?
As a final point, Grey has a practical reason for desiring distinct flags: he uses them to visually represent states and countries in his videos. His preference, biased as it may be by his own needs, is not arbitrarily decided.
I, on the other hand, am biased against CGP Grey, but I take your point that he didn’t arbitrarily arrive at his opinion. I do find the seals visually distinct myself but I can see it the other way.
Now I will admit that I’m a CGP Grey fan and thus biased, but I do think this rebuttal does feel more contrarian than reasoned.
He mentions the historical use of flags was for easy recognition at sea and in war and thus not really needed by established land-locked colonies, but I’d argue recognizability is still the main purpose of flags. I’d actually argue it’s more important now since we see so many more flags in our lifetime than anyone did 200 years ago. How often do you see states listed by or next to their flags now? Take this Wikipedia article on state populations. Do you need the flags to identify each state? Of course not. But they do enforce instant recognition of the state and make it easier to find the state you care about at a glance (so long as the state has a distinct flag).
Beyond that, he mentions the historical meaning of seals, but that need not be lost by a flag redesign. Take the proposal for the Keystone Flag, which reuses the colors of the seal while adding new meaning via symbolism. Both can be used as conversation points to teach about the history of the state, while the latter gains the benefit of being visually distinct.
He also mentions that the point of seals was to be visually intricate not because of the history they represent, but for security purposes. Why, then, do we need what is basically a watermark on our flag? Does it trump the desire for a visually appealing and meaningful flag just because it’s old?
As a final point, Grey has a practical reason for desiring distinct flags: he uses them to visually represent states and countries in his videos. His preference, biased as it may be by his own needs, is not arbitrarily decided.
“more contrarian than reasoned” is like J.J.'s brand.
I, on the other hand, am biased against CGP Grey, but I take your point that he didn’t arbitrarily arrive at his opinion. I do find the seals visually distinct myself but I can see it the other way.