Lawmaker wants to redesign Maine's state flag

AUGUSTA — Rep. Janice Cooper thinks it’s time to freshen up Maine’s state flag, and to do so she is leaning on the one of the banner’s first incarnations.

Cooper, a Yarmouth Democrat, is sponsoring a bill that would see the state lower its current flag, which features the state seal on a field of blue, and raise a new version that depicts a lone pine tree and a blue star on a field of light yellow. The design was adopted as the state flag in 1901 but in 1909 it was retired in favor of the current flag.

The state seal on the current flag includes a pine tree with a bull moose resting beneath it and a star, representing the North Star, above it with the state’s Latin motto, “Dirigo,” in gold letters on a red sash. The pine tree is flanked by a fisherman and farmer, representing the state’s connection to agriculture and the sea. The word “Maine,” in white letters on a light blue sash, stretches out below the seal.

A public hearing on Cooper’s proposal will be held Monday before the Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee. Maine is not alone in considering a flag redesign, as other states, including Utah, are also contemplating retiring theirs. Critics dismiss flags that are built around a state’s seal as “S.O.B.s” – for seals on a bedsheet. They prefer designs that are sleeker, simpler and memorable.

Read more: https://www.sunjournal.com/2019/03/04/lawmaker-wants-to-redesign-maines-state-flag/