HOLLAND (WHTC) — ArtPrize founder Rick DeVos thinks Michigan’s state flag is ugly. He said as much on Twitter Tuesday night, then made an offer that some couldn’t refuse.
DeVos offered $500 for the best three state flag redesigns, according to his Twitter account Tuesday night. He tweeted that he would judge the entries.
DeVos offered few rules, writing that designers should use two or three colors and an image simple enough that a child could easily copy it. Lettering and seals are banned. DeVoss didn’t state an entry fee wrote that so far, there’s no contest deadline.
As the first designs appeared, with a #miflag hashtag, so did the Twitter trolling.
Michigan Democratic Party Chair Brandon Dillon submitted an Amway logo-emblazoned flag and a dig at the DeVos family business and political influence. DeVos called Dillon a “weirdo.”
What DeVos didn’t state is how he expects to get his selected design onto Michigan’s flagpoles.
According to state records, Michigan’s flag was first used on the Fourth of July, 1865, in Gettysburg during a cornerstone-laying ceremony at Soldiers’ National Cemetery.
The current design is the state’s third since 1837. The symbols include the state seal on a blue field and Latin statements of unity and safety, E Pluribus Unum (From many, one) and Tuebor (I will defend) as well as Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice (If you Seek a Pleasant Peninsula, Look About You), according to state records. The state’s coat of arms features an eagle carrying an olive branch and arrows above a shield showing a man on a green peninsula. The shield is flanked by an elk and moose, each on their hind legs. Together they form the Great Seal of Michigan and the Coat of Arms.
