u/Busy_Cry1631

This was one of the tightest ever, with how few votes were cast overall. Even the upvotes were tied! Ultimately, I turned to view count and by that measure, u/shutupaugust has won the day with their sleek reimagining of the Juneau flag! Congrats!

And now, on to our last capital, and once more, we return to the familiar and boring world of seals on bedsheets. At least the arms are good and the field is gold. How do you plan on one-upping this?

Results: strawpoll-XmZRQoaW9gd-9c07016e-7a20-11f1-a66a-cfe6c7060e32.xlsx

I get this when using Alex's Caves Delight by FixerLink1. I can't find the recipes in creative when it does work -- which is always on an outdated version -- and when I DO have an updated version, this error appears. How do I tweak this to work? Or is there a mod/pack that resolves this error?

Another generic county flag made better through heraldry. Organized in 1711 and named for Henry Somerset, the 2nd Duke of its namesake dukedom, Beaufort County (locally pronounced as BEW-fert) occupies the eastern portion of the bottom of South Carolina and is divided into two halves connected by SC-170 vid the Broad River Bridge. Home to 187,117 residents as of last census, its seat is in Beaufort, and its largest municipality is the famed resort town of Hilton Head Island. The Sea Islands flanking the mainland were home to many enslaved Africans who had less contact with their White owners and overseers than on the mainland; they developed the distinctive culture and creole of the Gullah, preserving linguistic and cultural roots from all around West Africa. Combined with the great number of Black leaders based in the county -- including no less a hero than Robert Smalls -- it is little wonder that its motto should be "Heritage by the Sea." Sadly, the flag is blander than it ought to be for such an esteemed place, so let's dial it up a notch.

The overall field is green with a base engrailed of blue fimbriated in silver, for the county's presence by the seaside. The main charge is the yale, a mythical beast thought to be based on the ibex (ya'el in Hebrew) with tusks like a boar and horns that can swivel around to attack or defend. Two of these in silver bezanty (semy of bezants), armed, maned, crined, and unguled -- and here langued and tusked -- in gold are the supporters of the arms of the Somerset dukes of Beaufort after whom the county and its seat were named. In the dexter and sinister chief, of course, are the increscent bendwise and the mullet of eight points for South Carolina, per my redesign.

And here we are! The last star in the Union, and by far the most controversial, given the false pretense under which it was annexed. While I personally believe that Hawai'i should be an independent kingdom once more -- and the haole should preferably pay reparations and leave -- it is, nevertheless, our great Polynesian outpost. Its existing flag is not a bad one, but the Union Jack as a mark of friendship with our former colonial overlords always rubbed me a little wrong. Here's how I remediated the flag.

The base of the flag -- and the entirety of the first design -- is the eight stripes of silver, red, and blue, which stand for the eight major islands -- Hawai'i, Maui, Kaho'olawe, Lāna'i, Moloka'i, O'ahu, Kaua'i, and Ni'ihau -- as they do on the current flag. In the second, third, and fourth renditions, this is accompanied by a green cartouche en surtout, similar to the green inescutcheon on the coat of arms of both the kingdom and the state, with each version bearing a different symbol. On the second draft, this is the sheaf of the puela and spears in saltire as borne on the royal arms, symbolizing kapu and protection. On the third, it is a gold hibiscus flower seeded in pink, representing the state flower, the Hawaiian yellow hibiscus -- also known natively as ma'o hau hele or pua aloalo. On the fourth, it is a gold mullet as on the state arms within the seal, symbolizing Hawai'i as the fiftieth such in the Union.

And we're finally all caught up on these contests, which means it's off to Alaska! Juneau's welcome sign-like flag was surprisingly hard to replace, since I couldn't really find an armorial reference to the trapper after which it was named. So instead, I turned to the indigenous peoples and (strangely enough) a proposal for a French departmental flag, and suddenly it all became clear. Here's how it came together.

On a green field lies a blue gusset reversed, charged at the nombril point with a silver flounder haurient spotted in black, and in the sinister chief lies a gold mullet of five points. The field, ordinary, and fish are a reference to Juneau's position along a channel at the end of several rivers, with the fish in particular referring to the city's Tlingit name of Dzántik'i Héeni -- base of the flounder's river. The mullet is, of course, the North Star, in keeping with its state.

And the last two results of the lower 48 are in! Many thanks to everyone for giving me the upvotes to break the tie with u/low_quality_posts and win Santa Fe; I always knew the Franciscan connection would come in handy. Congratulations also to LQP for their community victory in Phoenix, which I think is a genuine improvement on the original. Now go read the post about the next contest.

Santa Fe: strawpoll-7rnzVXNQLnO-023cdeec-7560-11f1-a4fb-8f0e3f667bc9.xlsx

Phoenix: strawpoll-PKgleXaWQZp-30d26aec-7560-11f1-8ef9-d6fa37e3d8f9.xlsx

Apologies for the lateness of this post, but we have finally left the lower 48th for the second time, with the conclusion of our 47th and 48th Capital City Saturday contests. Results will be laid out in the next post. Now, as for the next contest, that takes us off to Juneau, possibly the most isolated state capital in the Union, not only inaccessible by road from the lower 48, but likewise inaccessible from its own state! That isolation normally gives a place character, but this flag is utterly void of it, better suited to a welcome sign perhaps. What will you conceive of to replace it. Submissions are due by 0000 EST on Sunday.

And now for an all-original design, inspired by the coat of arms of one Hans Burgkmair the Elder, who, though not Alaskan, nevertheless contributed to this design.

The field is divided bendwise sinister bears-cut in silver and brown -- that is, such that the field is formed into two interlocked bears' heads. In keeping with the bear motif of Alaskan symbolism, but taking a less astronomical approach, the heads represent polar bears for the Arctic north and brown bears -- grizzlies and Kodiaks -- for the boreal south.

I posted this almost 8 months ago, so I wanted to remind you it exists.

This one is a bit different from my usual submissions, though, as it is meant not to replace, but rather to compliment, the existing flag. CGP Grey astutely pointed out in his video grading state flags that Alaska's design, while clean and iconic, might not stand out too well in the dark of winter due to the small stars and overall dark color. To that potential problem, I offer this simple solution; by reversing the colors of the field and its charges, I have created a winter version of the flag that stands out better against the gloom. The idea is that in parts of Alaska with the darkest of winters, this flag is flown, while in the summer, the original flies under the midnight sun. Therefore, should this design be chosen for competition, it should be submitted as part of a pair containing also the original flag, rather than on its own.

https://www.reddit.com/r/vexillologyUS/s/w6gZCi5Vw4

The fifth best in the Union, Phoenix's flag most often draws criticism from those who find it somewhat underdesigned; indeed, for my part, I think its aesthetic fits in more with the flags of Japanese cities and prefectures. So here goes my take on it.

Retaining the murrey field of the current flag (the Ancient Greek adjective for which is also phoenix), the new flag features a silver phoenix beaked, langued, and orbed in gold, arising from flames atop a mountain with a demi-sun of five rays issuant from dexter chief, all also in gold. The city arose atop the former site of indigenous civilizations, hence the namesake mythological bird -- suggested by Darrell Duppa -- and in this case, inspired by the Roman Catholic diocese of the city, it rises from the flames atop Camelback Mountain, the highest peak in the city's eponymous metro area and a site revered since the time of the Hohokam. Finally, the demi-sun evokes both the setting sun in the west and the state as the last bastion of the Old West, as well as the rays representing the Five C's -- cotton, cattle, citrus, climate, and copper -- that drew Phoenicians from far and wide and made it the capital and primate city of Arizona.

As a Marylander, I know I have no business creating this, since I know just as well as you what perfection looks like (both our flags are perfect in their own right). Nevertheless, on my native subreddit of r/vexillologyUS we hold weekly contests to redesign state flags -- even the good ones -- and yours was last week. I came up with this tasteful and minimal expansion on your design, adding a bordure denticulated of turquoise for you state gem and the crafters past and present who value it. Lemme know what you think.

Arizona is another excellent state flag that's hard to improve on, being sixth overall and just squeezing into the top 5 in the Union according to NAVA's landmark 2001 survey. Understandably, then, truly bettering the design was always going to be harder than simply recoloring or fimbriating the mullet in the center. But the symbolism of the flag is tight and well-expressed, and it gives a good place to start from. Here's where I went from there.

Firstly, the thirteen red and gold gyrons comprising the half to chief of the original have been replaced with a field checky of twelve in gold and red, four ranks deep for a total of 48 pieces (albeit some being obscured); these are partly an allusion to the fifteen such pieces in the second quarter of the arms of pioneering conquistador and proto-anthropologist Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, and partly on Arizona's precedence in the Union.

Secondly, the blue half to base has been replaced with a field barry wavy of six of blue and silver, still symbolic of the Colorado River; the number of bars also symbolizes three great indigenous civilizations and cultures via the blue (the Hohokam, Mogollon, and Puebloans) and three Western nations via the silver (Spain, Mexico, and the United States).

Finally, overall, in lieu of the mullet of five points, lies a roundel copper, upon which a symbol of Venus with a spring within and issuant from its upper portion, both in silver. Arizona is the Copper State, well outproducing the rest of the Union, and copper is one of the planetary metals of alchemy, symbolized by the mirror of Venus. The spring, meanwhile, alludes to the state's likely etymology; the name is derived from the early Spanish Arizonac, itself derived from the O'odham alĭ ṣonak, or little spring -- a name by which it is still known to the modern O'odham.

Apologies are owed to the forum. I know that I bungled the handling of CCS 47 last week, and I blame no one but myself. I recently went, as many of you know, on a trip to Iceland, and both before and during the trip I was subject to an immense degree of stress. The dam ultimately broke today, and I had a good solid cry about it to the folks. But suffice to say I was out of sorts for a while and I'm just getting back on my feet now. I hope you all understand that I never meant to do wrong by the forum.

Anyways, two great capital cities of the Southwest, the latter said to be possessed of the fifth best city flag in the Union. You know what to do.

A small revision to my proposed redesigns from NP #3, this time with incorporation of the state's de facto colors of blue and gold. Enjoy.

Serving as both the capital of New Mexico and the seat of an eponymous county, and home to 87,505 residents, Santa Fe is a city of many superlatives. It is the oldest among state capitals, having been founded by the Spaniards in 1610, and it is also the highest, at just two feet shy of 7,000 in elevation. It is also regarded as among the preeminent art cities of the Union, with some 250 galleries and a full tenth of its population employed in artistic and cultural industries. How, then, should such a city have so mediocre a flag, even with that surprisingly good shield in the middle of the seal? Here's my solution to that problem.

The full original Spanish name of the city is La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís, or the Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi -- the Italian Catholic friar and mystic who took up a life of poverty and itinerant preaching, eventually leading to his founding of the Franciscan Order. In keeping with that connection, I have tied together the indigenous and Spanish Catholic roots of the town by utilizing the symbols and colors of the New Mexican flag and combining them with Franciscan motifs. To wit, the flag features a red Zia sun above two crossed arms -- one of a European and one of an indigenous New Mexican -- issuing from a silver cloud, the palms of both their hands bearing stigmata, all upon a field of gold. The colors and symbols are as on the New Mexican flag, while the symbols of the Franciscans -- the arms of Christ and Saint Francis and the Latin cross -- are here reworked into the above to symbolize both the origin of the name and the meeting, struggle, and reconciliation of the Old and New World.

Congratulation to u/shutupaugust on their winning design for Oklahoma; I must admit it has a lot of the qualities that make Tulsa's excellent as well.

And for this week, the City Different in the Land of Enchantment. I've seen two versions of Santa Fe's flag, so I've included both, but neither's very good. Let's keep the enchantment up!

Poll results: strawpoll-xVg712YGeyr-8bcdeb38-69cb-11f1-adbd-da95c68a5c21.xlsx

And here we are at last, facing the ultimate challenge of vexillological redesign; how do you improve upon absolute perfection? New Mexico's flag is more than just one of the best designs out there; it is, according to NAVA's 2001 survey, the best state flag in the Union and indeed the best subnational flag in all of North America. Its respectful usage of native symbolism and masterfully minimal color palate are considered textbook examples of flag design done right. So how do you top that? By taking just one step back from the minimalist angle. Here's how that manifests.

The flag is essentially the same as the current one with a bordure denticulated of turquoise, a nod to the state's official semiprecious stone -- prized in both indigenous and modern jewelry -- as well as to Spanish heraldry, wherein this particular style of bordures is endemic (as well as elsewhere in Iberia). Also included is a version with the tinctures of the sun and field reversed, as well as versions of both of these with a turquoise-centered sun.

And here we are, Flag Friday and Capital City Saturday all in one week. Apologies for the delay, but now we're ready to go. Voting is open until Tuesday at 1300 EST.

Poll: https://strawpoll.com/xVg712YGeyr

And at long last, I've got it ready! Apologies for the delay, but my life is a whirl as a weeklong trip to Iceland approaches, and my giant Minecraft mod suite spirals out of control. Nevertheless, I took a classic OKC banner and revamped it into an even more armorial construct. Here's how it breaks down.

For continuity, I took the current flag's silver field and red orle and turned them into a silver bordure with a red orle upon it, for the city itself. The main field is red quartered by a silver cross charged with a red cross glandular for the post oaks of Council Grove, founded in 1858 by Jesse Chisholm as a meeting place for native and other councils; in 1889, those trees were harvested for the construction of Fort Reno. In the four quarters, in silver, are symbols derived from the current flag and seal; the plow bendwise between two ears of wheat and two ears of maize/corn -- both in saltire -- for agriculture (and also as an allusion to the seal of the Muskogee Nation, on whose lands the city was built), the hatchet and stake in saltire for the '89ers staking land claims in the territory, the atom for industrial and scientific research, and the calumet bendwise sinister for the councils of prior years and the spirit of peace, progress, and reconciliation.