A grand new flag for Massachusetts – The Boston Globe

Design by committee — again!

On June 22, you kindly published my letter (”How would you redesign the Massachusetts flag?” Opinion) commenting on what I consider the folly (and in my career experience, frustration) of designing anything — let alone a new Massachusetts flag — by government committees.

On Friday, I chuckled and mumbled, “Oh great!” seeing Jeff Jacoby’s follow-up column with the collection of ideas (”Readers offer their designs for a new Massachusetts flag,” Opinion, July 12) by the scariest design committee of all: Everybody!

Andy Spiegel

Winchester

How about a new motto too?

Jeff Jacoby’s earlier flag column (“A simple fix for the Massachusetts flag,” Opinion, June 20) and my letter on the subject generated a lot of discussion locally, which led me to think the flag redesign should start with a revised motto. Outside of its original context of 1775, when our Commonwealth was in armed rebellion against British Occupation, our current motto is a little hard to understand. It’s long, and it’s in Latin, which makes it meaningless to most people without translation.

An alternative I proposed in local discussion was “Leaders in Liberty.” I think the motto should include the word liberty because the concept of American liberty is one thing most Americans can agree on. It’s probably our most important contribution to the world, and its birthplace is right here in Massachusetts.

My motto fits on a license plate and is both historically powerful and aspirational. Imagine if we asked with each discussion of a given problem, “How can greater freedom help fix this problem?” Imagine if over time, our Commonwealth became the state known for fostering the development of modern leadership in liberty as we did historically. And imagine if our pantheon of leaders was enriched with people once ignored who we now recognize as contributing to the concept and practice of American liberty.

Roger Wilson

Winchester

Here’s my vote

Thanks to Jeff Jacoby for his illustrated column. I vote for number 4, the design by Cal Nez and Mark Wagner. It keeps the best design elements of the old flag and removes everything distasteful about it. The implied message of respect and cooperation between races is most welcome. This new design for a new flag is a clear winner. Nothing else on the page comes close.

Tim Parker

Marblehead

We have a winner — all of them

Some excellent concrete suggestions were made in Jeff Jacoby’s July 12 column, which the Commonwealth should use in making a decision on a new state flag. They are well thought out, and if we are going to change the flag, any one of them would work.

Because the Commonwealth previously spent $100,000 (that’s a lot of lobster rolls for lunch!) on a committee that was unable to come up with a decision they were tasked to make, and now wants a new committee, it seems only right that the governor instead send a check for $100,000 to Jeff since his “committee” has already saved time with reasonable ideas, and the governor can choose one of them. Next decision.

Charles Martel

Boston