I was planning to have the Chinese dynasty from which settlers would arrive in Arizona (and the West Coast at large) be intentionally vague, but there would be parallels to the Southern Song. As for Chinese characters being on the flag, that's fine by me.
For OTL Arizona's flag having good elements, the flag's goldish star is meant to represent the state's copper industry, while it's red and yellow rays are for symbolizing it's gorgeous sunrises/sunsets. The blue on the flag apparently depicts the Colorado River (or as its known as in this ATL, the Lěngquèhé).
Right, thank.
So here's what I thought up:
- The flag will have an aspect ratio of 5:8.
- The flag's width will be divided into fifths. The fifth nearest the hoist will be colored blue, with the rest colored yellow.
- From the top corner of the blue strip, the characters 仙人掌之地 (honestly, I think this could be abbreviated) will be etched vertically with the same shade of yellow as 4/5ths of the flag.
- Defacing the yellow field is a red sunburst with stripes numbering in multiples of 8 -- half that number will be "colored" yellow. Inscribed within the central circle is a stylized yellow slilhouette of a cactus thorn, a line which then splits into four and spreads towards four northerly directions from a radial point.