State Flag
The Partnership of the Historic Bostons page put up a thing on their Facebook asking for petition signatures to push MA Legislature to (finally) re-design the Massachusetts State flag & seal. The one that's been in place since 1898.
The most prominent complaint is the "Myles Standish Sword" above the head of the Native, and, that's just salt in the wound.
First off, I like Vexilogy in some respects, I like symbolism, heraldic design, and flag & seal designs. Like Coins throughout history, they have a specific story to tell about a specific time period(s) and what are deemed Important Historical Events.
But, there are consequences. Of course, the Victors get to (Re)Write the History in their favor.
Secondly, I admit I actually LIKE the design of the MA seal. I LIKE the idea that a Native is featured exclusively. I LIKE seeing the sword because it ties in with the State Motto (somewhat questionably translated from Latin as "By the sword we seek peace but only under liberty". I argue that's not quite right. But that gets off topic and who the hell knows what Algernon Sibley was getting at when the quote was attributed to him 100 years later during the Revolution)
BUT. Always a But.
It's also a horrible design. Once (I) learned about the history and origins of the design from 1898, it's blatantly oppressive and a jab in the face to the native peoples.
White Massholes need to get the fuck over King Phillips War. Just, staaahp.
Fucking hypersensitive snowflake holding a grudge and blood feud for several hundred years. And, pushing how horrifically violent we "had to be" to crush this "rebellion" (INTERESTING USE OF THE WORD "REBELLION"), etc etc etc.
My desires for the changes are as follows:
Yes, the Native depicted is a terrible and pathetic frankensteined "Native". He needs a serious Update, and need to somehow represent an actual Massachusett or Wompanoag. Not some hacked together idealization of a Chippewa from the West.
The sword. I SO WISH it could be kept and re-worked to instead reflect the Sword in Hand Shilling by Paul Revere from 1775 and the Bedford Flag. It would better tie in with the State's history in the Revolution, and the State Motto.
Since people today are interested in ignoring the past by trying to wipe it away clean, and too many Americans today can't fathom US history existed before 1776. If we're going to obsess and hyperfocus on the Revolution, then fine, don't incorporate symbology from the preceding 300 years. Yeah, I'm going back to the 1500s, when the explorers-for-hire were out staking claims for the monarchies that sponsored them. (also, fuck columbus)
Of course, any redesign needs to get input from the Native tribes. All the Massachusett were obliterated by the 1830s so unfortunately we're not going to get their take.
It would BE SO NICE to have a "victorious" Native, with arrow pointing upwards instead of downwards "in defeat".
Both of those points could be tied into Sports Teams with native names and symbology but that's a slightly different if parallel topic.
In terms of Insult, nothing compares to the FIRST seal, which was a naked native with a crotch bush and a scroll saying "Come Over And Help Us".
Hell, a redesign with Metacomet/King Phillip himself would be pretty slick. Since no one outside of Middlesex County knows who the hell he is, and no one knows what he looked like (lots of debate about the authenticity of the portrayal engraved by Revere, yeah he comes up again). Yanno, since we're all about REVOLUTION and REBELLION, phrases that get tossed around worse than "Inconceivable".
Like I said at the start, I LIKE the idea of the seal having a Native, provided tribes get to input, because I think it's kinda cool to have a Native represented, Respectfully.
In my mind I sometimes think about a design that has a Colonial and a Native "shaking hands", trying to (force) an idea of mutual respect, if anything in this so-called Modern age or Age of Reckoning as I'm starting to refer to it as. But, I think that's just too hard a sell for the pearl-clutching old-money old-land colonial ancestry old families to comprehend.
If the Native "has to be" removed entirely, there was a Reverse-Side design from 1915 until 1971 that had a Pine Tree in the Blue Shield. And of course, (if you know Mass. and N.E. flag history) Pine Tree shows up in some of the earliest State Flags....So, maybe that will resurface. Although we may be forced to revisit the redesign Once Again in a couple of decades when all the Pine Trees have been removed from the State. In the same way the Grizzly Bear is on the California flag and they've been extinct in the state for decades. Because nothing authentically represents your State better than depiction of things that have long since been obliterated from your pathetic Manifest-Destiny origin story.
Not sure a Tall Ship would be any better representation, too many potential connections to the Colonial Expansion and Slave Trade. Continental and International Shipping & Trade hasn't been a factor in Massachusetts for almost a century now.
Cod Fish? Again, that whole California thing.....And the New England Fishing Industry, how long is that going to exist?
Whales? Probably not, ask New Bedford and Nantucket about that.
Giant Crucifix? What, we don't want to acknowledge the Puritans looking to convert the heathens? Or would we try to spin it to represent the Praying Villages like Natick? Oh right, Separation of Church and State. One of the primary reasons the early Colonists were coming here in the first place, escaping Religious Persecution. Or that whole John Endicott incident where he cut off the red St George's Cross out of the canton of the flag in 1636?
Any other Former Industries That No Longer Exist in the State we can represent?
Massive brick textile factories? Or would that represent worker oppression and child labor?
Farming? A flag canton full of Rocks? Because even the early farmers complained how Rocks are the Official Crop of New England..... Or maybe a giant Pothole? Or would that represent head-up-ass penny-pinching-dollar-foolish Legislature?
Maybe a Shovel for the Big Dig? Or would that represent the whole NIMBY protests?
Giant Pilgrim Hat with a Native Arrow through it? Oh no wait the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority already did that and got rid of the Arrow in the 1990s.
Outline of the Massachusetts Bay? And which version, Pre 1830s Filling of the Back Bay or Post 1830s And is that too Boston-Centric?
I dunno, what's left? Giant Tollhouse Cookie? Or would the Marshmallow Fluff people get pissed off? And would that be too Commercialized?
So yes, I do LIKE the design, but certainly not thrilled with the connotations.
I do think it needs a modern and more accurate/authentic upgrade without having to completely start "new".
The most prominent complaint is the "Myles Standish Sword" above the head of the Native, and, that's just salt in the wound.
First off, I like Vexilogy in some respects, I like symbolism, heraldic design, and flag & seal designs. Like Coins throughout history, they have a specific story to tell about a specific time period(s) and what are deemed Important Historical Events.
But, there are consequences. Of course, the Victors get to (Re)Write the History in their favor.
Secondly, I admit I actually LIKE the design of the MA seal. I LIKE the idea that a Native is featured exclusively. I LIKE seeing the sword because it ties in with the State Motto (somewhat questionably translated from Latin as "By the sword we seek peace but only under liberty". I argue that's not quite right. But that gets off topic and who the hell knows what Algernon Sibley was getting at when the quote was attributed to him 100 years later during the Revolution)
BUT. Always a But.
It's also a horrible design. Once (I) learned about the history and origins of the design from 1898, it's blatantly oppressive and a jab in the face to the native peoples.
White Massholes need to get the fuck over King Phillips War. Just, staaahp.
Fucking hypersensitive snowflake holding a grudge and blood feud for several hundred years. And, pushing how horrifically violent we "had to be" to crush this "rebellion" (INTERESTING USE OF THE WORD "REBELLION"), etc etc etc.
My desires for the changes are as follows:
Yes, the Native depicted is a terrible and pathetic frankensteined "Native". He needs a serious Update, and need to somehow represent an actual Massachusett or Wompanoag. Not some hacked together idealization of a Chippewa from the West.
The sword. I SO WISH it could be kept and re-worked to instead reflect the Sword in Hand Shilling by Paul Revere from 1775 and the Bedford Flag. It would better tie in with the State's history in the Revolution, and the State Motto.
Since people today are interested in ignoring the past by trying to wipe it away clean, and too many Americans today can't fathom US history existed before 1776. If we're going to obsess and hyperfocus on the Revolution, then fine, don't incorporate symbology from the preceding 300 years. Yeah, I'm going back to the 1500s, when the explorers-for-hire were out staking claims for the monarchies that sponsored them. (also, fuck columbus)
Of course, any redesign needs to get input from the Native tribes. All the Massachusett were obliterated by the 1830s so unfortunately we're not going to get their take.
It would BE SO NICE to have a "victorious" Native, with arrow pointing upwards instead of downwards "in defeat".
Both of those points could be tied into Sports Teams with native names and symbology but that's a slightly different if parallel topic.
In terms of Insult, nothing compares to the FIRST seal, which was a naked native with a crotch bush and a scroll saying "Come Over And Help Us".
Hell, a redesign with Metacomet/King Phillip himself would be pretty slick. Since no one outside of Middlesex County knows who the hell he is, and no one knows what he looked like (lots of debate about the authenticity of the portrayal engraved by Revere, yeah he comes up again). Yanno, since we're all about REVOLUTION and REBELLION, phrases that get tossed around worse than "Inconceivable".
Like I said at the start, I LIKE the idea of the seal having a Native, provided tribes get to input, because I think it's kinda cool to have a Native represented, Respectfully.
In my mind I sometimes think about a design that has a Colonial and a Native "shaking hands", trying to (force) an idea of mutual respect, if anything in this so-called Modern age or Age of Reckoning as I'm starting to refer to it as. But, I think that's just too hard a sell for the pearl-clutching old-money old-land colonial ancestry old families to comprehend.
If the Native "has to be" removed entirely, there was a Reverse-Side design from 1915 until 1971 that had a Pine Tree in the Blue Shield. And of course, (if you know Mass. and N.E. flag history) Pine Tree shows up in some of the earliest State Flags....So, maybe that will resurface. Although we may be forced to revisit the redesign Once Again in a couple of decades when all the Pine Trees have been removed from the State. In the same way the Grizzly Bear is on the California flag and they've been extinct in the state for decades. Because nothing authentically represents your State better than depiction of things that have long since been obliterated from your pathetic Manifest-Destiny origin story.
Not sure a Tall Ship would be any better representation, too many potential connections to the Colonial Expansion and Slave Trade. Continental and International Shipping & Trade hasn't been a factor in Massachusetts for almost a century now.
Cod Fish? Again, that whole California thing.....And the New England Fishing Industry, how long is that going to exist?
Whales? Probably not, ask New Bedford and Nantucket about that.
Giant Crucifix? What, we don't want to acknowledge the Puritans looking to convert the heathens? Or would we try to spin it to represent the Praying Villages like Natick? Oh right, Separation of Church and State. One of the primary reasons the early Colonists were coming here in the first place, escaping Religious Persecution. Or that whole John Endicott incident where he cut off the red St George's Cross out of the canton of the flag in 1636?
Any other Former Industries That No Longer Exist in the State we can represent?
Massive brick textile factories? Or would that represent worker oppression and child labor?
Farming? A flag canton full of Rocks? Because even the early farmers complained how Rocks are the Official Crop of New England..... Or maybe a giant Pothole? Or would that represent head-up-ass penny-pinching-dollar-foolish Legislature?
Maybe a Shovel for the Big Dig? Or would that represent the whole NIMBY protests?
Giant Pilgrim Hat with a Native Arrow through it? Oh no wait the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority already did that and got rid of the Arrow in the 1990s.
Outline of the Massachusetts Bay? And which version, Pre 1830s Filling of the Back Bay or Post 1830s And is that too Boston-Centric?
I dunno, what's left? Giant Tollhouse Cookie? Or would the Marshmallow Fluff people get pissed off? And would that be too Commercialized?
So yes, I do LIKE the design, but certainly not thrilled with the connotations.
I do think it needs a modern and more accurate/authentic upgrade without having to completely start "new".