#pine treeeeeeee

[vexillology-for-brains]

The State of Maine Has Chosen a Final Design!!

This is the new design of the Maine state flag that will be voted on by the public in November!

Personally, I feel that this design will be spectacular flying across a state that has become a second home to me as I've been living in the Portland area for work this summer. I can safely say that if I was registered to vote in Maine I'd be thrilled to have this as my official state flag. I only hope it passes this coming fall. It's been interesting seeing all of the various 'pine tree flag' designs that several members of the community had made. While I didn't see all of the submissions, just this specific design being worked on, I'm told that many of the submissions will be made public for viewing.

I'm not the biggest fan of the fact that the green is two-toned, an opinion I held in the final drafting meeting, but I believe that it may grow on me. It's a nice touch that will be visible up close and look nice on TV broadcasts while not being distracting from a distance. And from a distance you'll still be able to tell that it's a green eastern pine tree. I like the asymmetrical tree, it’ll stand out a lot. The background color, which is called ‘buff’ is also distinct and should look great at a distance.

The design prompt was to base the modern flag on the 1901 pine tree design. And the panel of Maine judges went through a lot and I mean a lot of design configurations for the pine tree. They were happy with this one, the Maine Secretary of State was happy with this one, and NAVA was happy with it after we redesigned the tree several times.

I'm excited to say that I was a (very small) part in the final drafting process this past Sunday (Aug. 4, 2024) with the designers and more experienced NAVA members. In attendance was our amazing Secretary Ted Kaye, and the Maine Secretary of State: honorable Shenna Bellows, and the designer Adam Lemire, among other vexilographers. I'm happy I can finally talk about this publicly, even a day not talking about it drove me crazy.

As I was present for the final drafting meeting, for any interested in more details can send me an ask or reblog and I'll respond as best I can. I won't have all the answers seeing as I'm not exactly the most senior member of NAVA, but also consider this as a general blog AMA.

I can't wait to welcome a new changed state flag later in 2024! Have a great day y'all! (Just realized this is two posts in less than a week, NEW RECORD!)

[sevensagesdesign]

Some more photos from the @uccalnat California Naturalist Certification course up at Bass Lake / Yosemite back in mid-May 🥳 These ones show better vertically—those treeeeeeees! . First photo: 2,700 year old sequoia in Nelder Grove. 2,700 years!!!😮 . Rest of photos: locations of various lessons on wildfire recovery, watersheds, wilderness instruction (meta!), campstove quesadilla cooking, & just being in the Happy Isles 🤗 . The UC Naturalist program is an opportunity to learn all about California’s unique ecosystems from myriad voices & how to effectively advocate for them. . We learned about glaciers & geology at Yosemite from current & retired professors, forest management from hunters, ranchers, & indigenous stewards (here, from the Mono people), & forest fire impact & recovery at the site of last year’s Creek Fire. . Also learned how be effective citizen scientists through documenting observations through iNaturalist projects. . For my capstone project, I created a short promo video for the program, which I hope they use with effect. . A fabulous & intense week of all-California, all-the time! This course was hosted at the Yosemite Sierra Summer Camp at Bass Lake, & organized by Camp Ocean Pines, through there are courses at locations all over CA! . Strongly recommend taking either the UC Naturalist or the Climate Steward course at a location you love—you’ll learn & love it even more 🤗 http://calnat.ucanr.edu/Take_a_class/ . Plus “California Naturalist” looks hot in your email sig 🤓👍 (Just remember that "Naturalist" means something much more revealing in England 🙈 ) . #SeeTheForestForTheTrees #CaliforniaKnowsHowToParty #CaliforniaNaturalist #CalNat #UCTheBeauty #FireFollowers #CreekFire #MonoTribe #IndigenousLivesMatter #Yosemite #BassLake #California #Naturalist https://www.instagram.com/p/CQH9PfuHwoO/?utm_medium=tumblr