Anyone with an idea of what the Maine state flag should look like has one month to submit a design idea, although contest rules limit the amount of free-for-all creativity that will be allowed.
Maine lawmakers agreed last year to let voters decide whether they want to adopt a new state flag design that would be more distinctive than the current one, which has a blue background and the state seal, a man standing on either side of a shield showing a moose resting under a pine tree.
The state seal in the center of the blue background combination is similar to the look of the flags of at least a dozen other states.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced a contest Friday to determine which design would be used as a template ahead of a November referendum on a new flag.
Bellows said in a statement that choosing the design “is not a job I can do alone.”
“That’s why today I invite all Mainers to consider submitting a design for consideration,” he said. Design rules allow submissions to come from outside of Maine.
Governments have allowed the public to create and vote on designs of civic symbols, including birds, license plates and flags.
In 2022, Ulster County, New York, adopted an “I Voted” sticker depicting a pink and turquoise creature with a bloodshot look after a teenager entered it in a contest.
However, the Maine flag contest does not invite such a broad spectrum of artistic expression.
The design brief provides strict criteria, including that the background of the flag must be “buff,” a light yellowish brown, and that the flag must be “so simple that a child can draw it from memory.”
It should also have a pine tree in the center and a five-pointed blue North Star in the top corner, according to the writing.
An advisory committee will select five designs from the pool of submissions to present to Ms. Bellows, who will choose a design to serve as a template for the new state flag before the November election.
The contest rules specify that the design must be an original work and not generated by artificial intelligence. The winner of the contest will not receive compensation and the design may be modified by the secretary of state.
There is no minimum age for who can create the design, but entries created by children and teens under 18 must be submitted by a parent or legal guardian.
Submissions are due by 5 pm on July 19.
Maine residents and lawmakers have debated for years changing the flag, which uses a common state flag design. Two states that previously used that design, Utah and Minnesota, officially adopted more distinctive flags this year.
Maine lawmakers decided last year to allow residents to vote to replace the current flag with a design similar to the appearance of Maine’s first state flag, which was used from 1901 to 1909.
In recent months, the flag debate in Maine has been charged with revelations about the display of flags with political connotations on property belonging to Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.
The 1901 Maine flag has a pine tree in the center, making it resemble the “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which was used during the Revolutionary War but in recent years has been linked to a push to remake the American government in Christian terms. Rioters carried the “Appeal to Heaven” flag at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The New York Times revealed last month that the “Appeal to Heaven” flag flew outside Justice Alito’s vacation home in New Jersey last summer. Justice Alito said in a letter to lawmakers that he knew of the flag but was not familiar with its meaning and that it had been raised by his wife, Martha-Ann Alito.
Ms. Bellows told the Portland Press Herald that her office had received questions after the Times report on Justice Alito, but the debate does not change the flag voting plans.
“Any process and design we come up with will be based on Maine history,” he said.
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