A/N: This episode was published in October 2023, therefore the flags featured in this story will reflect that point in time, just to let all of you know in case of future flag changes. Anyway, continue reading as usual.

~

Class is back in session at World Academy W!

To welcome the start of another year at this international institution, Mr. America got together with Mr. Canada and Mr. Liberia, collaborating with their students to show off the spirit of Homecoming to the rest of the school. That meant a week-long celebration, featuring a parade, a banquet, a dance, a sports game (that had yet to be decided due to a difference in interests), and a row of dress-up days from Meme Monday to Throwback Thursday. It should be lots of fun for everyone, especially for the Americans looking forward to making a great impression on returning students and staff.

"Wow~ So kawaii~" President Taiwan marvels at Vermont's latte art alongside other female members of the popular Cat Snuggling Club.

"O-Oh, please. It doesn't look that good, especially when compared to your 3D latte art." Vermont blushes with a humble smile.

"Don't be silly," she assures him. "There's always room for improvement, but it's still cute anyhow."

"I guess so," he mumbles softly. 'Though maybe after Homecoming week I can stop by the Coffeehouse Club and ask Washington for advice...'

"Heyo!" Colorado raises his voice from a table, sitting with several cats and their 2-in-1 school-issued laptops alongside the rest of the Four Corners study group. "Can I get a coffee refill?"

"O-Of course! Right away." Vermont heads over to their table, bringing a kettle of French press coffee with him. "Anything else you guys need before I end my shift?" he asks.

"Treats for Khukki would be nice," says New Mexico, bobbing a pink fishing-rod-style toy in front of a Siamese cat with a relaxed smile.

"Yeah, and a coffee made with buttloads of cream and sugar for the Mormon," Arizona adds while casually petting a tubby orange tabby in her lap.

"But I don't drink coffee," Utah frowns, pausing from drawing on his tablet with a stylus.

"Well, what else is gonna make you work faster?" she groused. "It has been fifteen minutes, and you're the only one still working on designing a flag."

"Are you referring to that assignment we were given today?" Vermont asks out of curiosity. "You guys already finished it?"

"Yep," Colorado answers after sipping his cup of coffee. "I would've put it off 'til the end of the week, but Utah insisted we get it done now so that we could focus the rest of our time and attention on Homecoming arrangements."

"Yeah," Arizona yawns as she stretches in her seat, "although I don't get why he's taking forever to finish working on it."

"Sorry," Utah apologizes, "but I prefer to take my time and not rush the process of completing this assignment."

"Dude, it's a fucking flag."

"Language, please. We're in school."

She rolls her eyes. "Unless you're trying to incorporate the Mona Lisa, it shouldn't take you more than ten minutes at most to come up with a decent design."

"I don't believe that's possible," he mutters.

"Take a look at this and tell me that again." Arizona shifts her laptop screen to show her distinct flag design: a rectangle divided horizontally in the middle with thirteen red and yellow rays on the top half, a field of liberty blue on the lower half, and a copper star set at the center like a setting sun.

"Oh my goodness! That looks amazing!" Utah gapes at her. "How did you come up with such a beautiful design?"

She smirks, "All I did was take inspiration from myself and what I liked."

"Really? That easily?"

"Yeah. Pretty much." She sips her glass of lemonade. "Anyhow, you see my point?"

"I..." Utah hesitates, unable to bring himself to agree with the desert-crawling delinquent. He looks to Colorado snacking on an edible brownie and asks, "What about your flag design?"

"Hm? You wanna see it or something?"

"Uh, yes, please. I'm curious to see what you drew for your design. Is that okay with you?"

"Of course. It's no problem at all." The Centennial State gladly reveals his classy flag design: a rectangle divided into three horizontal stripes of blue, white, and blue with an off-center golden disk encircled by a red letter 'C'. "What do you think? Pretty cool, right?"

"It's ... so ... uniquely you," Utah puts it nicely, appreciating its eye-catching colors but thinking personally it looks slightly ... off.

Colorado chuckles, "Yeah. That's the vibe I was going for."

"It definitely suits you," Arizona remarks. "Well, New Mexico, I guess it's your turn to show off your flag."

"Huh?" He looks up from playing with the cute cats. "Do I have to show off?"

"Why not? Colorado and I already showed off our flags. Also, I'm curious to see your flag since you finished before us."

"Ah, well, I guess I don't mind showing y'all what I did with mi bandera (my flag)," New Mexico mumbles as he opens his laptop. "I must confess. It isn't as colorful as yours and Colorado's, but I still think it holds up strongly in spite of that." He slowly reveals his extraordinary flag design: a golden-yellow rectangle with the red Zia sun symbol at the center.

"That's ... it?" Utah stares in wonder, surprised by how simplistic it looks compared to everybody else's flags.

"Dude, that looks rad," Colorado says in awe. "You somehow pulled it off without using blue and white in your design."

"Gracias (Thank you)." New Mexico radiates with Hispano pride.

"Though I wish you did for the three of us to match," Arizona notes the contrast between his two-colored flag versus their multi-colored flags.

"Sure, but I prefer to keep it simple than try to be showy."

"I guess that's fair and respectable." She casually glances over to Utah. "How does your flag compare to ours?"

"Uh, well, it's still a work in progress, so.." he mumbles, lowering his eyes to his laptop, having second thoughts after seeing their flags.

"No problem, dude," Colorado assures him. "You can show us what you made so far, and we'll be alright with that."

"O-Oh... Okay then..." Utah shyly turns his laptop, revealing to the others his flag design: a boring blue field with a state coat of arms encircled in a golden circle at the center. "L-Like I said," he says nervously, "it's a work in progress, so please try not to judge too harshly. Okay?

"Bruh," Colorado utters in total disbelief, "is this for real your flag?"

"Uh, yes."

"Um..." New Mexico struggles to come up with something nice to say about the flag. "It... It has a nice shade of blue, a-and the beehive looks pretty nice—"

"Dude, your flag sucks monkey balls!" Arizona bursts out in horrendous laughter.

"P-Please! Mind what you say! It hurts my feelings!" Utah whines.

"Sorry, dude, but there's no sugarcoating this. Your flag freakin' sucks, and I can't believe you spent so much time working on it."

"W-Why do you keep saying it sucks? It looks neat and proper to me."

"Well, for one, it has your name on it."

"So?"

"Didn't Mr. America recommend not to put lettering on our flags?" New Mexico mumbles, checking the guidelines attached to the assignment.

"I-I thought it was common sense to always put our names on our assignments."

"That aside," Arizona scowls, "I also don't think your flag is appealing, especially compared to ours."

"I..." Utah lowers his head, sighing in defeat. "I hate to disagree with that brutal take, yet even I must admit your flags look so much better than mine." He buries his face in the palm of his hands. "It burns me with deep shame..."

"Don't feel too bad." Vermont returns to their table to reassure him with a tender smile and a warm cup of Postum. "I honestly don't think it matters how much effort we put into creating our flags since the only flag that matters the most is the Stars and Stripes."

"How patriotic of you..." New Mexico mumbles.

"I mean, nothing wrong with the American flag," says Colorado, "but Mr. America said something along the lines about this assignment being a way to show off our diversity and individuality."

"Yeah," Arizona agrees. "Utah's flag doesn't stand out as anything special, so he's likely going to get a bad grade for the assignment."

"W-What?!" Utah exclaims. "N-No. No way. I can't get a bad grade, or Father Brigham in Heaven will be heavily disappointed in me." He quickly returns to his computer and opens up a new blank canvas, proclaiming with resolve, "I must put more effort and consideration into making a flag I can proudly wave and call my own."

☆☆☆☆☆

Days had gone by 'til it was Friday—the day the 50 States were due to present their flags.

Sitting calmly at his desk in front of the classroom, Mr. America takes in a deep breath before addressing his afternoon class in a semi-serious manner. "Okay. Before we get the ball rolling, I noticed some of you dudes didn't follow the five guidelines for this assignment. Not to say everybody needed to follow them, but they were there for a reason, ya know? Like, I wanted your flags to look as awesome as my flag, but..." He exhales, shaking his head in sheer disappointment. "Just to spare y'all some time and embarrassment, I'm excluding Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, and Wisconsin from presenting their flags today."

"Booyah!" Wisconsin cheers. "I don't have to present today!"

"Uh, no..." America scowls. "I meant to exclude you guys from presenting because your flags—to be brutally honest—sucked giant cans of farts. So much so that I rather just hand y'all F's and move on to better-looking flags."

"What?!" The cheesehead drops her jaw in shock.

"That's not fair," North Dakota protests. "You won't even give us a chance to present and explain ourselves?"

"If I did, we'd be hearing the same things over and over again."

"C'mon, man," Idaho pouts. "My flag is certainly special."

"In a bad way," America appends.

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

"Dude, you put your name twice on your flag."

"Huh? I did?"

"Yeah, you absolutely did..." He presses a button on a remote to turn on the projector after pulling up on his computer all the flags he placed in F grade within his tier list of state flags. "No freakin' joke. Had you guys not placed your names on these flags, I wouldn't be able to tell which flag belongs to whom because all of them are basically a boring state seal on a basic color background."

"Holy shit nuggets," California cackles at her classmates' flags. "Did you guys, like, use the same ugly template? They all look so fucking bad."

"P-Plesase don't say that," Kansas whimpers. "Mine has a sunflower."

"Mine, too," South Dakota asserts.

"Okay, so why not just go with a sunflower as the main emblem for your flags?" America reasons. "Y'all do know a seal isn't required for your flag, right? It doesn't need to be there, like, at all."

"But I worked so hard and wanted to show off my beautiful seal," Montana laments.

"Yeah." Nebraska nods along to that sentiment. "I even followed the rule of using a maximum of three colors for my flag."

"Sure. They do look beautiful. I'll admit that," he acknowledges. "However, it's still a seal, and I can't accept that as a good element in the making of a great flag. It's far too complex for anyone to draw on paper, and no one will be able to see the details when viewed from afar. For those reasons, I have to give F's, as much as it hurts to do so."

"Fuck me," Michigan groans. "Please tell me Fuckeye got an F for his flag. I need to know that much to feel better about myself."

"Um, no, he got an A."

"How the hell?! His flag's hideous!"

"It's a little odd, sure, but I like it. It's bold and innovative—just like him."

"Ha!" She cracks up in hard laughter. "I can't believe what you're saying. I refuse to believe it."

"Believe me, dude. Even if you think flags like Ohio's and Maryland's are super questionable, I have to say they're far more interesting and iconic than any flag made with a seal. They're what I expected to see from all of you, yet..." America groans, "Y'all instead turn in the same uninspired garbage."

"Not true." Oregon rises from her desk. "I implore you to reconsider my grade as I assure you my flag isn't like the others."

"How? Your flag looks no different from Nebraska's."

"Except," she hurries over to his computer to pull up the attached file she turned in, "if you look closely, you'll see mine has a cute beaver on the back."

"What the...?!" He stares stupidly at the back of her flag, unaware of its existence until now. "Why didn't you just go with the beaver? You could've gotten a solid B for that!"

"You see," she smiles sheepishly, "I couldn't find a spot for it with the seal on the front side, so I placed it on the back side as a cool little Easter egg."

"Seriously," America bemoans, "this weird obsession with these freakin' seals on flags makes no sense."

"Um," Oregon blinks her eyes, "do I get a higher grade? I did something interesting with my flag like you wanted."

He sighs, "I'll give you a D for that darn beaver, but I'm still mighty disappointed in you."

"Aw, geez..."

~ F for Failure! ~

"Mr. America," Kansas speaks up, "I noticed you didn't mention West Virginia in your list of—"

"Hey!" West Virginia hisses at her in a tense manner, "Zip your mouth shut. He doesn't need to bring up my awful flag."

"But..."

"Oh, yeah," Nebraska mutters. "While on the subject, I also noticed you didn't mention Nevada." She looks over at the Silver State napping with his head down on his desk, not paying attention in class as usual. "Why is that? They both have seals on their flags."

"That's true," America recognizes that fact as he displays their flags on the projection screen. "Honestly, I don't plan to give them any time to present their flags for the reasons I mentioned earlier. However, they do deserve a bit of credit: They each did something slightly different to stand above an F." He points to the blue rectangular border on West Virginia's flag.

"Really?" West Virginia sounds surprised. "Well, I'll be darned. I'll take a D over an F on any day of the week."

"That is fucking ridiculous." Idaho shakes her head in disgust. "You're telling us that mega ultra ugly-ass flag," he points to Nevada's flag, "is better than mine with the seal not being centered?"

America shrugs. "It certainly stands out, for better and for worse."

He facepalms and groans, "Gosh, I fucking hate school."

"Who else have you given D's to?" North Dakota wonders.

"Let's see..." America checks his grading tier list. "I have Iowa who, for some reason, copied France's flag."

"T-That's because I was a former French territory," Iowa explains, disheartened to see his flag on the projection screen get a disappointing grade. "I know my flag isn't the most impressive, but can't you give me a C instead?"

"I mean..." America reconsiders his grade for the assignment. "I need to be completely fair and dock points for including lettering on your flag, but... At least you're not a dumb copycat like Florida, so..."

"¡Oye! What's with the callout about me being a dumb copycat, huh?" Florida questions upset.

"Dude, your flag looks almost identical to Alabama's."

She scoffs, "Eso es ridículo (That's ridiculous). Pull them up and do a side-by-side comparison. You'll see our banderas (flags) are nothing alike." She watches her teacher do as she asks, showcasing two flags that consist of a red saltire on a white field. The only obvious difference is her flag having a seal where the cross intersects. "Ya see? They're totally different."

"Uh, yeah..." America thinks the opposite along with the rest of the class.

~ D for Disappointing! ~

With all the failed and disappointing flags out of the way, America can now give proper attention to people with passable flags, starting with the Sooner State and his sky blue flag chocked full of Native American symbolism.

"The emblem I placed in the middle of my flag is an Osage war shield, representing my desire to protect people in my homeland," Oklahoma explains as he reads off a note card, doing his best to hold minimum eye contact with the audience. "It's made of buffalo skin and marked with six crosses that stand for stars (as common in Native American art) and my high ideals. Hanging underneath it are seven eagle feathers that are there for two reasons: To many tribes like the Cherokee who live in my home, the eagle is a sacred animal whose feathers are believed to possess spiritual power in relation to warfare, and the number seven is sacred as well as it symbolizes world order. Lastly, to conclude, I have surmounted a calumet and an olive branch over the shield, showing above all a love of peace between united people."

America smiles and nods his head in approval. "Excellent presentation. I absolutely love your flag being a symbol of peace. Without your name at the bottom of your flag, I would've given you a B or an A with some changes to simplify the design. Still, a solid C is much better than an F with a generic seal."

"Okay. I'll take that." Oklahoma walks back to his seat, content with his grade, as the Evergreen State comes to the front of the classroom to present his flag next.

"Um, I don't have much to say about my flag," Washington mutters with dark bags under his eyes. "Pumpkin spice lattes are in season at the Coffeehouse Club, so I haven't gotten around to making a cool design for my flag."

"I understand, but..." America scratches his head at the green flag appearing on the projection screen. "Couldn't you have put a more flattering portrait of George Washington on your flag?"

"It was the best I could do, given my tight schedule..."

America grimaces, "I want to give this a D, but I don't want to disrespect my dad like that, so I'll let you off with a C." He watches Washington drag his feet back to his seat before turning his attention to the next state about ready to show off their flag.

"For my flag," Wyoming presents, "I have the white silhouette of a bison, a symbol of the native wildlife that inhabits my home, on a dark blue field surrounded by a red and white border. The color blue represents the skies and mountains. The color white represents purity and uprightness. And the color red represents the blood that was shed in the early days of my founding."

"Whoa. That's hardcore," South Dakota awes at the last statement.

"Wonderful use of colors," America commends the Wyomingite with a strained smile. "I would give this flag a solid A, but..." He shakes his head and sighs, "You just had to ruin it with a darn seal."

"But I put it there as a reference to my cattle industry and the custom of branding livestock—"

"No, dude!" He bangs his fist on his desk, bemoaning, "You were close, so close, to making a great flag! The seal just degrades it to a C! I can hardly believe it!"

~ C for Close, So Close! ~

Fortunately for Mr. America, there are creative students whose flags don't have seals on them.

One of whom is Alaska and her flag, displaying eight gold stars, forming Polaris and the Big Dipper, on a navy blue field for everyone to admire like the silent splendor of the night sky.

"Incredible," America gazes at the seal-less flag in amazement. "I want to call this the perfect flag, yet I feel like something's missing with all this blue space on your flag."

"That's because it's like me—mostly empty on the inside," she answers dryly.

"Ahahaha! That's so true," he laughs. "I'll grant you a B for the Big Dipper then."

"That's fine by me," Alaska utters exhausted after being forced to speak in front of the class for almost five minutes.

Following the Alaskan comes the Aloha State for her time to shine in front of the class. "Aloha ahiahi (Good afternoon)!" Hawaii beams brightly. "I'm so excited to show you my flag today. I'm very proud of it as I took great inspiration from Mr. America, Mr. Britain, Mr. France, Mr. Russia, my Polynesian peers, and my island sisters." She points to the projection screen showcasing her multicolored flag, designed with a canton containing the Union Jack and eight stripes in the following sequence from top to bottom: white, red, blue, white, red, blue, white, and red. "It's very colorful, just like me!"

"I... I don't know how I feel about this..." America mumbles unsure of what to make of her flag, seeing both good and bad points about it. "It's certainly unique, and I can clearly see the inspiration put into its design. However, I gotta ask: Why did you include the Union Jack when you're obviously not British?"

"Well," she giggles. "I just think the Union Jack looks really cool."

"Okay, but what about the Stars and Stripes?"

"What about it?" She cocks her head, cluelessly blinking her eyes.

"I..." He hesitates, having not the heart to criticize and disagree with her design choice. "... Never mind. I guess I'll give your flag a B for being beautiful and British."

"Yay!" Hawaii cheers.

"Anyway," America turns his attention to the rest of the class, "who else has yet to present?"

"Ooh! Can I go up?" California raises her hands, jumping out of her seat in excitement. "I'm so ready to show off my hella awesome flag! Believe me!"

"Alrighty then. If you're that confident, go right ahead." He brings her flag up on the projection screen, showcasing a white field with a single red star in the canton, a red stripe at the bottom, and a grizzly bear atop a mound of green grass as the center of attention.

"Okay, dudes!" She somersaults to the front of the classroom and strikes a cool pose with a brilliant white smile. "What you're seeing before your very eyes is the best flag ever made: the Bear Flag! Hella dope, yeah? Like, do I even need to say anymore or what?"

"I'm somewhat surprised you didn't use blue and gold in your flag since I know those are your favorite colors," America remarks.

"True," she flips her hair, "but I felt like I was already pushing the color guideline for this assignment and didn't want to overcomplicate the design."

"Understandable." He nods his head. "Well, I guess with that I'll give you a B for the Bear Flag."

"B?!" California exclaims, extremely offended. "What the fuck? My flag has a giant fucking bear! I should be getting an A+ for how cool and badass my flag looks!"

"You would be right except you included lettering in your flag." He underlines the words 'CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC' underneath the brown bear. "I think your flag would look perfect without it."

"But didn't you say there can be exceptions? Like I already mentioned, I used more than three colors for my flag."

"Yeah, I can excuse some flags with more than three colors, and I have been lenient with some flags with lettering. But in this case, I can't excuse it."

"Why the fuck not? It harkens back to my days of independence."

"Except you're no longer a republic nowadays," America reasons. "Naturally, I have to dock points off for false advertising."

"False advertising?! Are you for real?!"

"Give it a rest and take the B, ya baby bitch!" Texas hollers from her desk, sporting a smug smile.

"But... Argh!" California stomps back to her seat in a huff. "I swear this isn't over! I'll continue to argue about this after school, so don't think I'll just roll over and accept a lame-ass B for my badass flag!"

~ B for Baby Bitch! ~

After Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico got A's for their awesome flag designs, it finally became Utah's turn to present their flag.

'The moment of truth...' Arizona watches her friend go up to the front of the classroom.

'Hopefully, it's better than a seal on a field...' New Mexico muses.

'I could go for some pizza right about now...' Colorado sighs after checking the clock hanging above the blackboard.

Utah gives a curt nod to his teacher before addressing the class with a polite smile. "Good afternoon, everyone. It has taken me quite an effort to create a beautiful flag since my first design was admittedly not very good. However, after coming up with many drafts, I'm proud to present my final draft I call: the Beehive Flag." He gestures to his flag emerging on the projection screen beside him. "As all of you can see, the field of my flag is designed to have three distinctly shaped stripes: The top stripe is blue like my wide-open skies and lakes, chosen to reflect my core principles such as faith, knowledge, freedom, optimism, and tradition. The bottom stripe is red like the rocky canyons in my home that millions of people from around the world travel to see, chosen to symbolize my perseverance in the face of obstacles that come my way. And lastly, the rugged middle stripe is white like the mountain peaks that have cradled my people from time immemorial, chosen to evoke peace as well as my world-famous snow." He points to the emblem within the white mountain range. "It's here I have placed a golden-yellow beehive as the main feature of my flag as it serves to exemplify my history, my industry, and my sense of community. It's cradled inside a hexagon with a gold rim for the bestagon is among nature's strongest shapes, demonstrating the strength of a united people. And finally, at the foundation of the beehive is a five-pointed star representing hope and loyalty as the 45th star on America's flag, in addition to paying homage to the five historical nations of my homeland: the Navajo, the Shoshone, the Goshute, the Paiute, and the Ute."

"Whoa...!" Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado can't believe their eyes.

"Holy macaroni, dude!" America gives an enthusiastic round of applause. "Your flag looks bold and modern, yet it feels grounded in the way you described it in your presentation. Overall, I say it deserves an A."

"Thank you!" Utah beams with clasped hands.

"No, thank you for meeting my expectations." He looks back at the class. "The same goes for the states who impressed me with their cool flags."

"Aw, man..." Minnesota frowns, deeply disappointed in herself for making a not-so-cool flag. "I feel so embarrassed. I wish I did better on this assignment..."

"No worries, Minnie," he reassures her. "I plan to make available a make-up assignment for those who want to redeem themselves with better-looking seal-less flags."

"Really?" Her eyes sparkle with hope. "T-Thank you, sir. I'm sorry for letting you down today, but I promise to design and show you a better-looking flag with lots of meaning."

"Good. I look forward to your redemption" America smiles.

"Um, 'scuse me, sir..." Texas abruptly raises her hand. "Ya haven't yet called on me to present my flag."

"Oh, that's okay. You already passed."

"Huh?" She shoots him a confused look.

"You got an A for an awesome flag," America clarifies.

"Uh, that's awesome, but I haven't presented my flag yet."

"I know," he acknowledges with a straight face, "but I speak for everyone and can safely say no one wants to listen to a three-hour presentation about how much you love your flag."

"Say what?!" The irate Texan slams both hands on her desk upon standing up, yelling, "That's utter bull crap! Unfair, I tell ya! I demand I get my God-given right to speak about my big, bold, and beautiful flag!"

"Dude, I kindly ask you to sit down and not argue with me about this."

"But America—"

"Oh my gosh!" California groans, rolling her eyes. "Just take the A up your deep-fried ass and shut the fuck up."

"How about you take your B and butt out of this?" Texas growls at the Californian.

"Nobody here wants to hear you brag about your dumb flag, you bovine bitch."

"Watch your dirty fucking mouth! My flag ain't dumb like your bottom-grade flag!"

"Quit bringing up my dumb grade! My flag, like, has a cool fucking bear and looks super badass! Yours looks like you're trying hard to suck America's dick!"

"Y-You..." Her face reddens. "H-How dare you say that...!"

She snickers, "Your flag's resemblance to America's can't be a coincidence, no? It's so fucking obvious you're desperate to—"

"SHUT YA DAMN MOUTH!" Texas pounces on California with a punch to the face, prompting a physical fight between them that shocks most of their peers.

"Ah, shit!" America rushes out from his desk to break up the vicious altercation. "Tex! Cali! Cut it out! Take a chill pill!"

~ A for America! ~

Hey, hey, daddy, want some Postum?
Hey, hey, mommy, hey, hey, mommy!
I cannot forget the taste of those
Funeral potatoes I ate before!

Draw a circle, that's the Earth!
Draw a circle, that's the Earth!
Draw a circle, that's the Earth!
Hello, I'm Utah!

Draw a circle, that's the Earth!
Looking closely, that's the Earth!
Or maybe, that's the Earth?
I'm the Beehive State!

Ah, with just a brushstroke,
A beautiful world can be seen!
The honey bees are busy today!
I am Utah!

☆☆☆☆☆

+ According to the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA), the five principles to making a good flag are as follows:

1. Keep It Simple. The flag should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory.
2. Use Meaningful Symbolism. The flag's images, colors, or patterns should relate to what it symbolizes.
3. Use 2 or 3 Basic Colors. Limit the number of colors on the flag to three which contrast well and come from the standard color set.
4. No Lettering or Seals. Never use writing of any kind or an organization's seal.
5. Be Distinctive or Be Related. Avoid duplicating other flags, but use similarities to show connections.

- While there are some exceptions, most bad flags generally depart from these five principles. Fortunately for Utah, most of its citizens have recently come to terms with replacing their old (boring) flag with a new one that isn't a basic seal on a blue field. It's set to be adopted in March 2024, so all vexillologists and flag enjoyers can rejoice once it's flown as the official flag of Utah.

+ For time's sake, I didn't cover half of all the states' flags. However, for anyone who wants to see me cover the rest, be sure to leave a comment in support of that idea.

~

Feel free to vote and/or comment.