From Minnesota to Connecticut, states are taking a hard look at reassessing their symbols, including flags. But a push to get South Dakota to join that conversation fell flat in the legislature.
South Dakota’s state flag is a member of a club known as ‘SOBs’ – or Seals on a Bedsheet – a club that includes half of all states which are frequently criticized for a lack of inspired design.
The North American Vexillological Society lays out several principles of what it considers “good” flag design, including being simple enough a child could draw from memory, no lettering or seals, and a distinctive design for each individual state. South Dakota’s flag fails to achieve each of these concepts.
Zach DeBoer is a Sioux Falls based muralist and educator who helped design the Sioux Falls flag. He spoke Monday as a proponent for Senate Bill 113, which would establish a design commission for the state flag.
“While most of us in this room can recognize the flags of Texas, Colorado or Alaska without ever setting foot in those states, I don’t think non-South Dakotans could identify our flag out of a group of other boring blue flags blowing in the breeze on top of a flagpole," DeBoer said. "This bill doesn’t repeal or eliminate the current state flag. It merely forms a committee to study the effectiveness of our current flag.”
That committee would be selected by, among others, the governor, tribal representatives, and the Department of Tourism.
Sen. Reynold Nesiba, D-Sioux Falls, is primary sponsor of the bill.
“Their recommendation might be our flag is just fine and we should leave it the way it was, maybe they come forward with a design or two or three designs and leave a process for the legislature to evaluate that," Nesiba said. "The final decision for a new flag design would be with the legislature and with the governor.”
As much as a flag is a symbol of its people, it can also serve as a valuable branding opportunity for tourism, according to Sen. Michael Rohl, who supported the bill.
“Having lived in one of the good flag states and seeing how its flown everywhere, its used for branding incredibly well," Rohl said. "It brings a good benefit.”
While there was no opposition testimony, questions about the necessity of this change ultimately sank the bill on a 5-3 vote in Senate State Affairs.