Why are US state flags so terrible?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Quite a few of the awful blue banners are a result of the push c.1900 by the DAR to make certain every state had a flag.  As a result, quite a few states simply made use of banners designed by the Army for use by state regiments, banners that generally were Army blue with the state seal on them.

For instance here's the flag Colorado used briefly before adopting its current distinctive design in 1911.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I like this California inspired replacement for the Wisconsin flag:


The guy who came up with this did a whole series of these for all the states and the Canadian provinces to boot.  Some are better than others, but they almost all are better than the typical union blue state flag with the state seal in the middle that many states have.

http://zebratigerfish.blogspot.com/2010/02/california-republic-mojo.html
http://zebratigerfish.blogspot.com/2010/06/california-republic-mojo-ii.html
http://zebratigerfish.blogspot.com/2010/06/california-republic-mojo-iii.html
http://zebratigerfish.blogspot.com/2010/06/california-republic-mojo-iiii.html

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It could have been worse:

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Technically that was not the first flag of Georgia, but rather this:



The original legislation specified that the flag be square. (Or at least the original proposal did.)

http://cdm.georgiaarchives.org:2011/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/adhoc/id/609/rv/compoundobject/cpd/610  (Page 13 has a picture, Page 14 has the text description.)

The abortive abomination that Barnes rammed thru was idiot attempt to please everyone that pleased no one.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

How how about Mississippi's original flag, the one they adopted in 1861 and replaced in 1894 with the current design?



If it truly is all about heritage and not about stubbornly keeping a symbol racists embrace, the Magnolia Flag would seem to be a perfect flag for Mississippi.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The fact that people think Georgia's current state flag is less offensive than their last only shows how desperately awful our education is in the U.S. in regards to history. They replaced a flag that had the ANV battle flag and replaced it with the original stars and bars national flag of the CSA. 

The offense from the pre-2001 flag comes mainly because of the racists who have wrapped themselves in the Southron Cross.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I like the Simpsons version of Australia's flag: