Quantcast
Channel: Ohio.com Most Read Stories
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 7876

Bob Dyer: Akron shouldn’t run up the white flag

$
0
0

If you’re anything like me, your closest friends don’t include more than a handful of vexillologists.

Well, OK, I don’t know a single vexillologist, either. I didn’t even know what one was until a former colleague, Chuck Montague, called my attention to a story on CBS Sunday Morning that featured a nationally know vexillologist.

Well, “nationally known” in vexillological circles. The circles are small. More like dots.

Vexillologists — “vex-il-LOL-o-gists” — are experts on flags. LOL indeed.

Not sure that would be a tremendously lucrative profession, but there’s a group of enthusiastic Americans and Canadians in the North American Vexillological Association who get their kicks by studying, analyzing and advocating for flags.

Design expert Roman Mars, with a nod toward NAVA’s five tenets of good flag design, believes our state flag rocks.

Ohio’s is one of his all-time favorites. As he points out, it is the only state flag in the union that isn’t rectangular. But that’s not the only thing that trips his trigger.

Here’s what makes a quality flag, according to the v-whatevers:

1. Keep it simple. Says Mars: “A child should be able to draw it from memory.”

2. Use meaningful symbolism.

3. Use two or three basic colors.

4. No letters or seals; no writing of any kind.

5. Be distinctive, or at least be related (such as the flags of the Scandinavian countries, all of which feature an offset cross).

Among the flags lauded by Mars is the Jolly Roger, the timeless skull and crossbones flown by pirates. Clean design, no words, with a crystal-clear message: screw with us and you’re dead.

Lousy flags are known in vexillological circles as SOBs: Seals On a Bedsheet.

The city of Akron’s flag would seem to qualify.

You didn’t even know Akron has a flag? Join the crowd. But it does, and one of them is flying proudly inside City Hall.

Actually, it’s not exactly “flying.” Or “hanging.” Or even “draped.” It’s packed into a big oak picture frame in the lobby, attached to mail slots above the elevators, because the city’s public service honcho didn’t want it to get dirty.

According to the NAVA guidelines, our flag should be stomped on, figuratively speaking, because it breaks some of the key rules.

There’s a big “AKRON” in the middle, and around the edges it reads, “All-America City” and, set off by stars, the years 1981, 1995 and 2008.

 So much for the “keep it simple” tenet. Nobody could draw that thing from memory — maybe not even the person who designed it.

A good flag supposedly uses no writing of any kind. Ours contains 31 letters and numbers. And that’s not counting the hyphen.

But Mars, a San Franciscan who hosts a podcast called 99% Invisible, goes easy on us. In response to my invitation to analyze Akron’s flag, he responded with a seemingly excessive level of tact.

“I think it’s a great graphic, and I can see why the city wanted to display it as they did,” he said via email. “I’d like a T-shirt of it!

“It has some shortcomings as a flag, because flags are designed [generally] to be displayed where you can see both sides. ...

“With this design, all the lettering would be backward for a lot people viewing it and the image would lose some of its impact. However, [the city] instinctively knew this, and displayed it how it looks best: in a great frame, being honored.”

Actually, Akron’s flag is two-sided, and there’s another one outside, in front of the municipal building, right below the U.S. flag.

“I like using the NAVA rules to teach people about design and get people to notice and think about their flag. The pattern usually holds that the flags with good design are the ones that are used the most and are recognized by the people.

“However, [my] ultimate point … was to get people to engage with and love their flag, even if you break some ‘rules.’

“Designers could quibble with some details, but if you use it and love it, that’s the true test of its success.”

Not sure how much we use it, and even less sure how much we love it.

But it does seem serviceable. Akron’s flag is balanced, is limited to three extremely compatible colors and will never be confused with the flag of any other Ohio city.

In other words, if we end up having to invade Brimfield or Clinton, everyone will know who’s who.

Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com. He also is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bob.dyer.31


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 7876

Trending Articles