Return of the terrible flag thread.

What makes the WORST flag?


  • Total voters
    149
Flag_of_Yaroslavl_Oblast.svg

It has Holy Roman Empire feels into it.
That's just Calbear, making his way toward the ASOIAF thread.... :p
 

Crazy Boris

Banned
I don't know if this has been already posted/talked here but here's the Paraíba state flag, definitely not the worst... But the most boring design of a Brazilian state flag in my opinion.
300px-Bandeira_da_Para%C3%ADba.svg.png

The "nego" comes from "negar", lit. "denying" in Portuguese

“Frankly, I think your idea just looks mediocre. What do you have today for yourself about this design being as bad as it is?”

Designer: *points to the text on the flag*

“Very clever, wiseguy. Did you add that text just to deny any criticism?”

Designer: *points to the text on the flag*
 
I am sorry, what is this the flag of?
Its a bit unclear...
The flag is the Municipality of Pilar in Camotes Islands, Cebu, Philippines. It's a simple banner with the words of the town on it on a green field.
Egad, none of these are particularly good, the combination of the simple (would calling it Child-like be too mean?) art with the perfect straight-lines is a bit of a painful contrast, those two aren't that bad. They're still overcomplicated, but at least they're distinguishable for a distance.
Yeah, Ilo-Ilo's flag is rather complicated just like Milwaukee. If they wanted a much simpler flag, the provincial seal on the bedsheet would have worked even if lazy.

The Buenavista flag, despite being busy, I do have an odd liking to it. I would even want to add it for my collection.
This is definitely a strong contender - though I think that the old Provo flag or the Brown County flag are pretty tough competition for worst in the world.
The worst part is how, in the bottom row, one of the pictures is out of line...
The flag of Nueva Montana makes the old Provo flag and Brown County flag look like masterpieces. The flag that uses images on a sheet makes it look like a Powerpoint slide just like St. Francois County posted by @Count of Crisco in the first page.
View attachment 709802
This is a real flag seal, for a real place. It was made by a real life human in my local area, he agrees it is terrible and has been advocating for a better one since he made this monstrosity. It seems the county was unwilling to hire someone with any form of qualifications to make a proper seal and instead had some dude in the county government make it.
 
There’s a lot of flags here that aren’t really horrible

For example that Nazi Polish flag isn’t actually bad design wise (obviously it’s a Nazi flag so the thinking behind it is bound to be evil but that’s not what I understand this thread to be about). The sword kind of IS a clipart because this is a modern, computer made rendering of the actual proposal, it’s specific appearance beyond being a Viking sword isn’t part of the design. Having no significance to Poland was also intentional. The point was to make the Poles out to be Slavicized Vikings (much like how the Nazis claimed the Croats were Goths or the Czechs, Slovenes, and Sorbs were Germans) and thus detaching it from Polish history and identity, and replacing them with Prussian and Nordic imagery is good design.

The flag of Dahomey isn’t a European flag or a modern flag, it fits into different vexillological norms. Sure it’s bad by modern western standards but honestly it’s not that bad. There’s a clear contrast and a kid can draw a man beheading another. Even if they’re stick men it’s still recognizable. It’s not perfect but I’d give it a 6/10. Not horrible by any means.

I’d say a similar thing for all the heraldic flags. Their goal isn’t to be simple or identifiable but to show the royal family’s various historic dynastic connections and holdings. Their design is still often pretty objectively bad though so I can’t really defend them as much as Dahomey.
 
For example that Nazi Polish flag isn’t actually bad design wise (obviously it’s a Nazi flag so the thinking behind it is bound to be evil but that’s not what I understand this thread to be about). The sword kind of IS a clipart because this is a modern, computer made rendering of the actual proposal, it’s specific appearance beyond being a Viking sword isn’t part of the design. Having no significance to Poland was also intentional. The point was to make the Poles out to be Slavicized Vikings (much like how the Nazis claimed the Croats were Goths or the Czechs, Slovenes, and Sorbs were Germans) and thus detaching it from Polish history and identity, and replacing them with Prussian and Nordic imagery is good design.
Let me shed some light on the nature of the (purportedly) proposed flag of the General Government.

It doesn't have anything to do with Polish culture or symbolism because the General Government was not a Polish collaborationist state but pretty much a temporary military government set up by Nazi Germany and run by Germans with Hans Frank as the General Governor. As far as I know it was supposed to be directly incorporated into the Reich and resettled with German colonist after Germany won the War.

As for the symbolism of the flag it is clear allusion to the Teutonic Order which the Nazis did use in their propaganda (example here) and which was a major enemy of the Kingdom of Poland in the late medieval period. Thus using the black cross on white field was most likely meant to symbolize that the Nazis finished what the Teutonic Order failed to accomplish in the medieval times. As for the sword I'm not sure but maybe it's just general militaristic/medievalist fetishism that NSDAP was fond of.
 
Let me shed some light on the nature of the (purportedly) proposed flag of the General Government.

It doesn't have anything to do with Polish culture or symbolism because the General Government was not a Polish collaborationist state but pretty much a temporary military government set up by Nazi Germany and run by Germans with Hans Frank as the General Governor. As far as I know it was supposed to be directly incorporated into the Reich and resettled with German colonist after Germany won the War.

As for the symbolism of the flag it is clear allusion to the Teutonic Order which the Nazis did use in their propaganda (example here) and which was a major enemy of the Kingdom of Poland in the late medieval period. Thus using the black cross on white field was most likely meant to symbolize that the Nazis finished what the Teutonic Order failed to accomplish in the medieval times. As for the sword I'm not sure but maybe it's just general militaristic/medievalist fetishism that NSDAP was fond of.
From what I remember hearing, the guy who designed this flag WAS trying to turn the General Government into a (kind of) Polish Germanized puppet state post war, which was why he sought to “Aryanize” the Poles by connecting them to some Vikings (hence the sword).

Though I heard about this a while back and may be misremembering.

@mikroraptor knows a fair bit about WWII in Poland so I’m sure he can also correct any misconceptions or misunderstandings of mine. I assume you also have a better understanding of this time and place than me ofc.
 
Since @ramones1986 already mentioned about the Philippine provinces flags being bad and you can look it up on Wikipedia, but here's some special mentions:

Basilan_Flag.png

Two seals occupying the upper half of the field and a text on the lower field. Just no.
Sultan_Kudarat_Flag.png

Province of Sultan Kudarat. I don't know what to say if this is a banner or a billboard.

The next one is a municipality flag
Flag_of_Banaue%2C_Ifugao.png

Banaue, Ifugao. Looks like a kid drew this and the local government unit just adapted it.

For more horrible city and municipal flags, click the link below:
 
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1920px-Flag_of_Batangas_%28c._2009%29.svg.png

Flag of Batangas, Philippines until 2009. California's cousin in the Philippines. It would have been better if the carabao occupied the center if it was trying to follow the California state flag. Removing the seal would have made it less bus.
In case the embed isn't working: Click here
 
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From what I remember hearing, the guy who designed this flag WAS trying to turn the General Government into a (kind of) Polish Germanized puppet state post war, which was why he sought to “Aryanize” the Poles by connecting them to some Vikings (hence the sword).

Though I heard about this a while back and may be misremembering.

@mikroraptor knows a fair bit about WWII in Poland so I’m sure he can also correct any misconceptions or misunderstandings of mine. I assume you also have a better understanding of this time and place than me ofc.
I know I'm quite a bit late in answering this but I'll try my best.
The General Government was originally intended to be completely colonized by the Germans, with Warsaw and Krakow being bulldozed and rebuilt as German "model cities" per Speer's plans which I believe are discussed in the Proposals and War Aims thread elsewhere on the site, but in short would be nazi suburban hell. However, the Governor-general, Hans Frank, soon realized that there were not enough German colonists to completely resettle the region, and this became an issue for him, especially as he fought with other nazi leaders to preserve the territorial integrity of his personal fiefdom. After Barbarossa, with the addition of Galicia to the GG and the formation of the Gotengau in Crimea that claimed to be descended from the Goths, he proposed the annexation of the General Government as the "Vandalgau" or "District of the Vandals" in which the ethnic Germans in Poland and German colonists would be the ruling class, while Poles would be serfs and industrial slave laborers within the General Government and all across the Reich.
It is in this context that the flag that was being discussed was proposed, by Hans Frank, for the Vandalgau. The sword was intended to hark back to the supposed Vandal and viking heritage, and the cross was indeed from the Teutonic order, perhaps just because of the Teutonic Order once ruling lands in Poland, perhaps as an intentional point showing German domination over the Poles.
In the context of the Vandalgau and the proposed nazi slave state over Poland, it would have been a good flag. Obviously this flag has some seriously messed up connotations but they have nothing to do with the flag's actual design.

In case you were wondering btw Hans Frank was tried at Nuremberg and hanged.
 
1920px-Flag_of_Batangas_%28c._2009%29.svg.png

Flag of Batangas, Philippines until 2009. California's cousin in the Philippines. It would have been better if the carabao occupied the center if it was trying to follow the California state flag. Removing the seal would have made it less bus.
If you were to remove the seal and the text, and center the bull in the middle, it would have been an entirely serviceable, if slightly generic flag...
 
I don't know if this has been already posted/talked here but here's the Paraíba state flag, definitely not the worst... But the most boring design of a Brazilian state flag in my opinion.
300px-Bandeira_da_Para%C3%ADba.svg.png

The "nego" comes from "negar", lit. "denying" in Portuguese
When I was a kid I thought that this flag of Paraíba said "Nêgo" instead, which means ummm, you know.
 
AAC7F929-9C18-4415-936E-0FC8C25004BA.jpeg

Apologies for the poor quality, but this was the best I could find online. Feast your eyes on the flag of Logansport, Indiana! It’s got everything: an uncomfortable racial depiction, a photorealistic train, weird editing choices, and even a literal map!
 
View attachment 767364
Apologies for the poor quality, but this was the best I could find online. Feast your eyes on the flag of Logansport, Indiana! It’s got everything: an uncomfortable racial depiction, a photorealistic train, weird editing choices, and even a literal map!
This functions more like a welcome sign rather than a flag. I'd say it is also terrible since it uses a white field.

Here in the Philippines, some provinces have maps on their seals on the provincial flag:

Batanes_Flag.png

Batanes
1920px-Biliran_Provincial_Flag.png

Biliran
1920px-Flag_of_Surigao_del_Norte.svg.png

Surigao del Norte
Surigao_del_Sur_Flag.png

Surgiao del Sur
Zamboanga_Sibugay_Flag.png

Zamboanga Sibugay
 
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