RALEIGH — The North Carolina Republican caucus unveiled a proposed redesign of the state flag Tuesday featuring an eagle, a flintlock musket, and a typeface that three professional designers, reached for comment, independently described as “a lot.”
The proposed flag, which would replace the current design adopted in 1885, retains the state’s blue and red color scheme while adding a bald eagle in full wingspan across the upper third, a flintlock musket centered on the fly half, and the phrase “NORTH CAROLINA · FIRST IN FREEDOM” in a font that bill sponsor Representative Clay Hinson called “dignified and historically appropriate.”
The font could not be positively identified by the three graphic designers contacted by this publication. One described it as “somewhere between a 1980s county fair banner and a very confident legal notice.” Another said it appeared to be a condensed serif “under significant stress.” The third declined to name it and asked that her name not be used in connection with the typeface.
“It reads as bold,” Hinson said at a Tuesday press conference at which the flag was unveiled on a small table. “Bold and timeless. That’s what North Carolina is.”
The current state flag, which features the dates of the Mecklenburg Declaration and the Halifax Resolves, has been in use for 141 years. Critics of the redesign have described it as “unnecessary.” Supporters have described it as “overdue.” Hinson has described it as “a conversation starter,” a phrase that design professionals noted is not a compliment when applied to a flag.
The bill to adopt the new design has been referred to the House Rules Committee, where it will be considered alongside a companion resolution praising the current flag. Both measures were introduced by Hinson.