Posted on 10/06/2015 11:36:47 AM PDT by LonePalm
Southern pride.
In the heated debate surrounding the Confederate Flag, the defense offered by many has been that the symbol isn't representative of a culture built on slavery and racism but is, instead, a banner representing that Southerners are simply proud of their home, their people and their culture.
"What other symbol immediately lets the world know you are from the South?" they argue.
To tackle the problem, Studio 360, a national public radio program, commissioned a Texas-based design firm to design a new flag to represent the modern South. With a diverse team of designers with ties to both sides of the Mason-Dixon line, 70kft embraced the challenge with an understanding of the importance of their task.
"The South is unique as a region in that it already has an informal definition," Gus Granger, founding principal of 70kft and a lead creative on the redesign project, said in a conversation with AL.com. The problem is that, obviously, this community that people feel so passionate about "has out of date visual assets to help define its identity."
He's right. The South is the only part of the country that seems dead set on having its own particular brand ethos – you don't see the West or New England rallying around a regional flag. And if we are going to define ourselves as a region, maybe it is time for an update. After all, for 150 years, we've essentially maintained the same branding even though our product has changed.
The surprising history of each of the 50 state flags
Could a new design offer Southerners the chance to embrace Southern pride, without embracing a symbol that hurts so many of our friends and neighbors? That sounds the toughest uphill battle since Pickett's Charge.
Granger said their goal was to "bring a modern visual language into the space for people that want to celebrate their legacy as Southerners," not by eliminating or ignoring cultural differences but by respecting them.
In an online presentation, 70kft suggests: "the Confederate battle flag is a divisive symbol. Some see family and honor. Some see bigotry and hatred. If we can't agree on the meaning, we can never be unified by it."
Their new flag is representative of "the diverse array of backgrounds, opinions, values and perspectives now found throughout the region create the very fabric of the modern South."
I won't wipe my butt with that ugly thing...
Feminism. “Women need men like fish need bicycles.”
Thanks—I don’t know how I missed that one.
.
Yep.
It’s 0bama colors.
I might wipe my butt with it.
Or maybe use it to pick up dog dung ...
The idea to create a flag “for the south” was from National Public Radio? You can’t make this stuff up.
Something like that. If you flip it over would it be a Northern flag?
Ridiculous!
My ancestors didn't fight under one of those.
Never and never!
In a word: no.
It’s an extremely silly notion and assists in perpetuating the currently popular and utterly wrong-headed notion that Confederate troops weren’t heroes every bit on a par with Union forces.
Yep. There are times when marketeers are the shallowest, most superficial people on the planet. A certain institution I know once paid such a company $900,000 for a custom font to print the institution name in (and there went my raise). They do very well in these "optics" days.
Now, I'm not a Southerner but I get it. If it's a choice between the flag my ancestors died under and a neutered pattern symbolizing nothing and carefully contrived not to offend anyone imaginable, I know which way I'm going. "Here, we're taking your flag, use this one instead" does not even deserve a polite reply.
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You jest!
“Yep. There are times when marketeers are the shallowest, most superficial people on the planet. “
I’m inclined to wonder if there’s ever any time when they’re not...
The leftards will also fly the “watermelon” flag: black,green, and red. Often carried by melanometric militants..
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