Vote no on Question 5, and pick a better state flag — the Maine bicentennial flag

The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Anita Brosius-Scott is a long-time resident of Camden.
I urge Mainers to vote No on Question 5, the proposed new flag design. Maine does need a new flag design, but not this one, the pine tree flag.
Strikingly similar flags, the Christian Nationalists’ “An Appeal to Heaven” flag, were brandished in the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol because it historically represents revolution against the government. It was used leading up to the American Revolution. It is what you’ll find if you search for an image of “pine tree flag.”
Maine’s “historical” pine tree flag, in use for only eight years before the adoption of the present state flag in 1909, had drawn on the same revolutionary history symbology.
We can embrace the strong pine tree symbol as well as our history — and Wabanaki pine tree symbology — while choosing a unique design for the Pine Tree State of which we can all be proud.
The fact is, the design you are voting on was meticulously specified by the Legislature without voter input in a law ( LD 86) that was initially passed by only two votes in both the Maine House and Senate. It became law without the governor’s signature, after several other attempts failed. The law dictated the layout and every symbol, color, size, proportion and placement on the flag. The “flag design contest” this summer was only permitting input on the exact details on the shape of the floating pine tree, and precise color tint designations. Now, a Yes vote on Question 5 will serve to finalize the Legislature’s mandated design.
You may like the new flag design, in which case you’ll vote Yes. If you want a new flag, but maybe not the buff-background levitating tree, a No vote will keep our options open for one that may better represent our state, that does not convey historical revolutionary and Christian Nationalism sentiments and that we can all feel comfortable with.
When the law was passed, at least seven companies, several from out of state, were already selling their versions of the 1901 flag on commercial products. A “contest” enabled the state to show no favoritism to any one company’s tree shape.
Do you want profit-making entities to dictate a done deal to Mainers? Are you voting Yes because anything is better than what we have now? Or because they’re everywhere, so it’s “too late”? It’s not.
This is not the last chance to change our flag.
Maine does already have a beautiful, unique design that features a pine tree and star and came about as a result of an open, statewide, Legislature-instigated design contest overseen by then Secretary of State Matt Dunlap in 2019. The final design won 59 percent support from 6,500 online survey respondents. It is Maine’s Bicentennial Flag.
I once fleetingly saw this design, but never saw it again; it largely vanished along with our public lives and our centennial celebrations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But while commercial entities flooded the market with the pine tree flag, I knew Maine had something better. It was difficult, but I finally did find it, and even found the name of the Mainer who designed it.
Jeff Van West’s winning design features a pine tree in the foreground, extending off the flag border to give the feeling of standing next to it in the forest looking out over the water. Beyond it, light blue represents Maine’s rivers, ponds and oceanfront. Above the water is the dark blue of the sky with a white star shining above. The original submission had a simple five-pointed star. The bicentennial’s star is more complex.
This flag checks all the boxes: bold graphics easily replicated, beautiful colors, historical reference to the pine tree, Maine’s waters, and the North Star. It feels like home. It has all the symbolism of Maine’s beauty and strength without the negative overtones and battleworn history we’re being asked to vote for now.
Vote No on the pine tree flag. We can choose a better symbol for our state of which we can all be proud.