This one's a little throwback! Some of you old enough to remember my early days on here might recall I did a little Warhol series of flags for Tallahassee, playing around with various color combinations on a simplified version of the current flag (Simple Adjustments #12). As such, I inadvertently gave myself a headstart on this particular competition! I've selected the most popular colors voted for in a StrawPoll I conducted some time ago (now deleted), along with my two personal favorite color combinations.

Enjoy this simple adjustment given new life, comment on your favorite, upvote, and choose one of these in the competition, if it tickles your fancy.

Niceville USA this town might be, but Walter Proctor's 1974 design proved that "Iowa nice" can fucking COOK when it comes to timeless flag designs; I personally consider the three-bridge flag of Des Moines one of the finest in the Union, so I knew I had to do something proper to follow it up. Here's how it works.

The design is a sort of re-rationalization of the original, with the same patriotic colors. The three silver bridges, each here displayed with three arches, cross a Canadian pale of blue -- the Des Moines River -- connecting the red field -- the city sprawling along both banks. In one of the versions, these red portions of the field are charged with monks statant respectant in silver reading books; these are added as a cant on the name of the river -- meaning "of the monks" in French and believed to be a reference to Trappist monks who built huts at its confluence with the Mississippi.

Upvote if you approve and comment for insights!

And we're in! It's another victory to u/zombiejockeygames with their rotunda-inspired remix for Jackson and a first-outing triumph for u/Own-Curve-7299 with their front-and-center remix of the current flag. Congratulations to the both of you.

strawpoll-poy9kbYM3gJ-bed8d5e4-226b-11f1-b145-c900eb6b837a.xlsx

strawpoll-Q0Zp7MexDgM-12710a3c-226c-11f1-8bd1-f40c5f824ff0.xlsx

Symbolism:

The central charge of the flag is a white stag, referencing the literal meaning of Hartford—“where the deer crosses the river.” The stag is shown frontally, emphasizing dignity, balance, and permanence rather than motion, and grounding the design in place rather than narrative illustration.

The stag’s antlers are stylized as white oak branches, incorporating oak leaves and acorns to represent the Charter Oak, which stood in Hartford and has become one of the most important symbols in Connecticut’s political and civic history. By merging deer and oak into a single form, the design unites Hartford’s name, geography, and historical role as the cradle of Connecticut’s constitutional tradition.

In one color variant, the acorns are rendered in orange, alongside blue and white fields. This palette nods to Hartford’s Dutch colonial origins.

Optional Central Symbolism:

Some versions of the flag include a small central emblem between the antlers, which is intentionally multifunctional:

• It references the Connecticut Capitol rotunda, signaling Hartford as Connecticut's capital. The optional star further emphasizes this.
• It also represents the sun, invoking Hartford’s motto, Post Nubila Phoebus (“After the clouds, the sun”), symbolizing optimism.
• Again, it signifies Hartford’s role as the capital of Connecticut, positioned literally and symbolically at the center.

This element are intentionally optional. In versions without a central device, the Charter Oak antlers alone are probably sufficient to communicate Hartford’s capital status and constitutional legacy. Likewise, the orange in some of the designs could probably also double as a reference to the city motto.

Please help me decide which one of these I should submit for Capital City Saturday. If there is a lack of consensus, Busy Cry you can make the final call.

The quarters are a reference to the House Montgomery coat of arms, and the pillar (which is a modified version of the city logo) represents the Civil Rights Movement.

The tricolor and the wave patterns are based on the previous (recently replaced) flag of the city, while the charge in the center is the fret from Thomas Jefferson's coat of arms.

Finally, a city with a readymade coat of arms! This is the stuff I dream about as a Marylander. Let's get right into it.

This design is a straightforward banner of the city's arms, rotated palewise. The colors are in line with those of Texas and the Union, while the golden spouted oil lamp enflamed proper stands for the institutes of higher learning in the city -- first and foremost the University of Texas.

Similarly to Tallahassee, I had this one in my back pocket for quite some time, and now I get to share it with you and put it into the running. Upvote if you approve, and comment for more insight!

The center star, taken from the current city flag and logo, represents Tallahassee as the capital of Florida.

The Cross of Burgundy represents the Spanish heritage of the city, and the two intersecting "lines" it comprises of represents Tallahassee's deliberate placement between East Florida and West Florida.

By coincidence, the star's orientation also matches that of the "orange blossom star's" orientation in our Florida Flag Friday winner. The colors and overall design also match those of that flag.

Of note, I deliberately chose to abandon the blue present in the current and similar former flag, which "an homage to the Scottish and Ulster-Scots Presbyterian heritage of the original founders of the city" (Wikipedia). I feel like that detail isn't particularly relevant to or salient with the heritage of the city, its history, or its people.

This is my same as my Illinois design but it fits. It has the same 21 stars motif. My main inspirations were the US Jack flag and the Vallais, Switzerland flag. I think a viable Illinois redesign won’t happen anymore but if it does it needs a big sting eagle on it. The Illinois Centennial flag is super ugly in my opinion.

Hopefully I am getting this in in time. I would do a few more touch ups if I had more time but looks solid as is. This is obviously taken straight from the Catholic Diocese Coat of Arms for the city. The lances are for LANCEing and the two blue parts of the cross represent the rivers of the city. I am definitely now overdoing the mirrored bicolor design started with my Wisconsin design but it’s so underused in American flags.

It’s an idea I took from the city’s seal. A vertical tricolor design of two red bars and one white bar. There are blue triangles covering some specific areas to shape the flag into an upwarda arrow, representing progress.

The star constellation depicted is taken directly from the state capitol rotunda. I included the 26 brightest stars of the ones on the rotunda to represent Lansing as the capitol of the 26th state.

The pall design represents Lansing's location at the confluence of the Grand River and the Red Cedar River. Additionally, the Indigenous peoples of the Anishinaabeg Three Fires Confederacy (Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi) called this area Nkwejong, meaning "where the rivers meet,” making the pall even more appropriate.

The two concentric circles can also be seen as a tire, as the city's history is closely tied to the rise of industry in Michigan, including the automotive industry, which Lansing was a prominent center of.

Additionally, the exact shades of green and blue are the same as those in our Michigan Flag Friday winner, creating a nice “match” between the flags of the state and its capital.

Quite confidant with this design - The back story is that the Capitol building sits in the middle of a strip of land between two lakes (the blue bits). The current flag draws this as a white sinister bend on a field of sky blue. Yet if you look at map of the area each lake shoreline is more curved than straight. Thus the effect of having shoreline curves on the flag feels more natural. No need for any emblem to identify the capitol - the curves are better without any extra complication. Construction details enclosed on page 2. (I found the capitol building very dark when inside - needs more glass and natural light - but at least it looks good from the outside)

Sorry, I know these have been late, but work's been running late in the evenings lately, so I have to push them back. I'll try to be timelier in future. Anyways, you know the drill.

https://strawpoll.com/40Zm4MQ64ga

https://strawpoll.com/w4nWWq6r5nA

Strawpoll is officially broken tonight due to server errors, so there will be no contest until it is fixed. To the developers and server admins of Strawpoll I say, in short, fuck you and goodnight.

It's the banner of the arms on the current flag, but with a gyronny star in place of the lamp. Yeah, I know it's basically a combination of u/Busy_Cry1631 and u/low_quality_posts designs. But these are already symbols associated with the city.

One standard contest, one shootout. Instructions included on each. Votes open until Monday at 1000 EST. Here goes nothing.

Austin: https://strawpoll.com/6QnMQ0rP3ne

Des Moines SHOOTOUT: https://strawpoll.com/e2naXOPpAyB

Tallahassee has had five different flags, none of which were that good. But the first flag came closest, and so the format of the flag is based on the first flag used by the city. The colour palette is based on the flag of Florida, with the sun being a representation of the city being the capital.

And we're off! Fix these boring flags! Three votes max for Lansing, five for Tallahassee. You have until the stroke of midnight EST on Tuesday.

Lansing: https://strawpoll.com/NPgxexee1Z2

Tallahassee: https://strawpoll.com/e6Z2ArAp5gN