Editing 3250: Flag Design

{{comic
| number    = 3250
| date      = May 25, 2026
| title     = Flag Design
| image     = flag_design_2x.png
| imagesize = 678x428px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = Every place has a local cryptid; more places need a local Pictish Beast, a creature in historical art that's drawn so weirdly that no one can tell what animal it's supposed to be.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a recursive flag. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic is a parody of normal flag designs, a subject previously covered in [[1815: Flag]] and [[2528: Flag Map Sabotage]]. For example, animals are commonly used on flags, and stars are also occasionally on flags. However regular flags don't feature smaller versions of themselves as part of the design, and don't have tributes or references to topology.{{Citation needed}} It is designed similarly to the [[xkcd Phone]] series, with a number of improbable features indicated with labels. The caption of "I think our flag design committee really knocked it out of the park" references the common problem of {{w|design by committee}} where a design made without a unifying vision, but rather many compromises between competing visions, results in overcomplexity, banality and internal contradictions, all of which are present on this flag.

The title text references the animal on the flag, with [[Randall]] expressing his opinion that more places should use hard-to-distinguish cryptids like on the flag. This may be a reference to the fact that many places in the world have a local cryptid, and to creatures like the Egyptian god Set where the original creature isn't 100% known.

=== Flag features ===


{| class="wikitable"
|+ From the top, going clockwise
|-
! Feature !! Description !! What this has to do with flags
|-
| A drawing of an unusual creature in grey. || [[Randall]] relates it to the {{w|Pictish Beast}}, an animal that appears frequently in the {{w|early medieval}} culture of the {{w|Picts}} of Scotland, and about which there has been much debate about what animal it is meant to represent. Randall has flipped this around, taking an animal whose identity is disputed and incorporating it into a cultural artefact in an attempt to get assistance with identifying it.|| Several flags, and even more so many coats of arms, have animals on them, often one native to, or heraldically representative of, the polity the flag belongs to. Some are quite abstract, making it difficult for the uninformed to identify the original animal (though not so much so as in this flag.){{Citation needed}}
|-
| National flag || Incorporating a flag into another flag is not uncommon, such as with the {{w|Union Jack#Use in other flags|Union Jack}} found in the flags of many current and former British colonies and territories, or with national flags being included in naval ensigns, but a flag that includes a smaller version of itself as a detail is a novelty. Typically, such inclusions are to indicate a link to the entity whose flag is included, but in this case it would be self-referential and meaningless. This could also cause an issue by leading to a {{w|Droste effect|recursive loop}} of nested flags, but thankfully this feature is omitted in the second iteration.|| Several flags, in particular in some variants, show a relevant coat of arms on the flag, while other flags are very similar to the corresponding coat of arms. The flag-on-the-flag concept is a nonsensical extension of the combination of both concepts.
|-
| Island (not a specific island, just a tribute to islands in general) || || Elements on flags often have hidden meanings that aren't obvious at first glance, such as a hidden map of the country on it. This is an example of an element with a lack of meaning that isn't obvious at first glance: an outline of an island that doesn't refer to a specific island. It is also one of the many random and strange tributes on this flag.
|-
| Tap here to pay taxes || This is the icon often used on payment cards to indicate the availability of contactless payment. Besides the inherent ridiculousness of adding such a feature to a flag, flags are generally flown very high so that they can easily be seen, making RFID-activated features, which typically require relatively close proximity, difficult to use. || This may be riffing on the {{w|flag of South Korea}}, which includes four trigrams which could (if you squint) be considered to look somewhat like this logo.
|-
| Tribute to topology || {{w|Topology}} is the study of the underlying geometric form of things. Most flags have a very simple topology, being a single sheet of material. This side of this flag appears to have been separated and twisted by one half-turn to turn the flag into a {{w|Möbius strip}}. This would be difficult to do in real life without disconnecting and gluing, sewing or otherwise affixing parts of the flag together. || A few flags are known among vexillologists for having a different front and back sides. Talking about the “front and back sides” of a Möbius strip flag is conceptionally difficult. Many flags include notable {{w|topography|topo''graphic''}} features, such as mountains, rivers, etc., and Randall may have deliberately confused the two terms.
|-
| GDPR consent || Implies the flag somehow collects data about people who view (or touch) it. This may be related to the "Tap here to pay taxes" feature. Of note is the "customize" option, implying that the flag can somehow present a range of data processing options for the 'user' to select from. The technology or design features it uses to do this are unknown. Alternatively, this flag could be designed to be embedded as a webpage online, where this and the "Tap here to pay taxes" features would make some sense, and the version on the physical flag could be purely cosmetic. || Text on flags is considered bad
|-
| Interested in citizenship? Take one! || This is a rather unorthodox method of gaining new citizens, that mimics a form of advertising that typically provides contact details on each strip, allowing people to take them away and contact the advertiser with an expression of interest at their own convenience. This has the same accessibility problems as the previous two interactive features, in that it would be difficult to reach the strips to tear them off when the flag is flown high. Additionally flags are generally designed to be hard to tear. The design of the flag within the flag implies that the strips that have been torn off are part of the flag design rather than due to use - Probably using another common advertising method, to make it look like a product is popular to encourage people to 'follow the others'. || There are some flags (such as the {{w|flag of the Republic of Venice|that of the Republic of Venice}}) which have a fringed design similar to this. 

|-
| Rounded corners ||  || Unusual, but nothing particularly out of the ordinary, as many flags do come in slightly unorthodox shapes. Could be a reference to how many everyday objects have rounded corners to reduce risk of injury or make them more pleasant to use, although this is a moot point with flags since they are generally constructed using cloth that are based upon perpendicular warp and weft and are edge cut (then edge-seamed) in line with the respective thread-directions. Moulded, cast or otyerwise machined physical objects with rounded corners may be more durable, as stresses no longer concentrate at the places where the sharp corners would be, nor are those corners the natural first points of any impact, although whether this logic applies to a flag highly depends upon whether the halyard is attached to the flag via a heading or by sewn-in grommits (through which are tied toggles or inglefield clips inserted), which is usually accounted for by further stitching used at and around the hoist-side's attachment points.

Rounded corners are also a gimmicky way to display {{w|graphical widget}}s in computer interfaces, usually by applying a selective transparency (and perhaps areas of non-interaction) to the corners of otherwise rectangular areas used by buttons and other display components, for purely aesthetic reasons (as progressively happened to the [https://cdn.geekzone.co.nz/images/blog/startevolution.JPG Start Button] from Windows XP onwards). It isn't unlikely that this flag-feature is being used to parody the trend of making virtual objects (often inherently and 'square') look unnecessarily more like smooth-edged physical objects.
|-
| EURion anti-counterfeit mark || The "{{w|EURion constellation}}" is a pattern of symbols is used as an anti-counterfeiting measure often incorporated in a number of secure documents, such as banknotes, checks and ownership title certificate designs. Flags are not secure documents and therefore do not require anti-counterfeiting measures. || The purpose of flags is to be seen, and it is usually desirable for them to be easy to replicate - quite unlike this flag!
|-
| Jaunty angle || Implies that the flag is NOT being viewed at an angle, but rather that the flag is, in fact, a slanted parallelogram in shape. This could have some unintended consequences when flown on a pole. || A few flags are known among vexillologists for having a non-rectangular shape. Most of them are square, though {{w|Flag of Nepal|Nepal's}} is a notable exception. A slightly off-rectangular flag makes things awkward for people drawing or otherwise trying to represent it, without having any particular meaning beyond its 'jauntiness'.
|-
| Tan and white stars on a beige field || Deliberate obfuscation through bad color contrast. It also uses very dull colours, which would be hard to distinguish from far off, defying the point of a flag as an easy-to-recognise symbol of something. This may be a deliberate attempt to avoid offending anyone by inadvertently including colors that have some political or otherwise contested connotation. || Example
|-
| CIE 1931 chromaticity diagram, to ensure flag color fidelity || A {{w|CIE 1931 color space}} diagram is a representation of the entire visible light spectrum. This is probably included as a reference to help address color issues arising from reproducing the flag in a given medium. However, given the flag is tan, white, beige and grey, it's unclear how much of a difference this could possibly make.

It may also be referencing the {{w|rainbow flag}} or its many variants known as {{w|pride flag}}s. The original concept was to convey diversity by featuring many stripes of different colors, the most common variant having six of them. On the other hand, it can be criticized as suggesting there are only six options. It sparked creation of many multi-colored pride flags to more thoroughly convey diversity. Including every possible visible color takes this concept to the extreme.

As well as that, it is a helpful feature on flags to be easily replicated, meaning having a few simple base colours. However, it could be very difficult to replicate a gradient like that. || Gradients are rare on flags, as they are difficult to make (though less so now that printing is common), and often are not considered to look good on flags, especially when flying rather than represented digitally
|}; 

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[A flag with many things on it.]
:[From left to right, top to bottom, in order labels:]
:[Label:]CIE 1931 Chromaticity Diagram, to ensure flag color fidelity. [Icon]
:
:[Label:] We can't agree what animal this is, so we put it on our flag to spark national debate. [Icon:] An equine creature of some sorts.
:
:[Label:] National Flag. [Icon:] A miniature version of the flag, however it is missing a miniature version of itself.
:
:[Label:] Island (not a specific island, just a tribute to islands in general) [Icon:] A nondescript island shaped blob.
:
:[Label:] Tap here to pay taxes. [Icon:] 4 sequential curves, a shape commonly used on NFC scanners to read a credit or debit card to encat payment.
:
:[Label:] Tan and white stars on beige field. [Icon:] 32 stars in a rectangle surrounding all the previously mentioned icons, save for the tax payment NFC scanner.
:
:[Label:] Jaunty angle. [Icon] Instead of a icon on the flag, the label notes the fact that the flags left edge is not at a 90 degree angle with the top and bottom edges.
:
:[Label:]  Tribute to topology [Icon:] Instead of a icon on the flag, the label notes the fact that the right edge of the flag is separated from the rest of the flag in the middle and twisted one half turn to make the flag into a Möbius strip.
:
:[Label:] Eurion Anti-counterfeit mark. [Icon:] A set of EURion dots, in the shape of the constellation Orion, commonly used on currency to prevent the use of printers to copy and mass produce counterfeit money.
:
:[Label:] Rounded corners. [Icon:] Instead of a icon on the flag, the label notes the fact that the flags corners are rounded.
:
:[Label:] Interested in citizenship? Take one! [Icon:] Instead of a icon on the flag, the label notes the fact that one who wishes to sign up for citizenship of this fictional nation, can tear off a strip and contact the person on it, referencing posters one can find around a residential areas in a similar format.
:
:[Label:] GDPR consent [Icon:] A menu saying "you have a choice in how we manage your data" with hypothetically intractable buttons saying "ACCEPT" and "CUSTOMIZE" reminiscent of similar menus that appear when you visit a website for the first time, or after you clear your cache.  
:
:[Caption below flag:]
:I think our flag design committee really knocked it out of the park 

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Graphic designers]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]