We redesigned the NJ state flag and we weren’t sarcastic one bit (Opinion)

Tuesday was Flag Day. The holiday few remember was invoked in a letter to the Star-Ledger recently that caught my attention. It was from someone who wrote about what an embarrassment the New Jersey state flag is.

The way the author sees it, our state flag has a “backdrop best described as a manila folder” and features “what appears to be a disembodied horse’s head, knight’s helmet and pagan goddesses, among other gaudy symbols.”

In other words, not good.

The letter writer suggested contacting legislators and lobbying for a new state flag to be designed with symbols that better represented who we are. He suggested a lightbulb to tout our technological achievements (Thomas Edison), images of the Jersey Shore, even the Statue of Liberty. Yes, New York, we still claim it.

That’s all super. But if you truly want a flag to represent what New Jersey is really like, who better to turn to than our never sarcastic always sincere listeners? On Flag Day people called in with visuals and slogans for a full remake of the New Jersey state flag and here’s a short list of their ideas.

It should have the Monopoly mascot, Rich Uncle Pennybags, with his pockets emptied and turned inside out. This not only conveys our financial struggle living here, it pays homage to New Jersey since the board game is based on Atlantic City after all.

Some slogans called in that would back up this poverty angle?

“Trenton takes what New Jersey makes.” A play on the old Makes Bridge slogan “Trenton makes the world takes.”

Or there was, “New Jersey. Now youse CAN’T leave.” A nod to “A Bronx Tale,” of course.

Others called in wanting images on the new state flag to have everything from pork roll to Gov. Murphy’s funky teeth to the iconic Chris Christie beach chair photo.

Someone suggested the middle finger as our state seal. Another wants the flag to be just an all-white rectangle to serve as a surrender flag.

Or how about a dead deer with orange tagging paint on the carcass? A traffic cone? A pothole?

I even suggested a scratch n’ sniff flag so you could always have that fresh smell of home. In my case, it would be the smell of the chemical plants and the Anheuser-Busch brewery mixed with jet fuel from Newark Airport. Basically around 13A.

This makes me think of another slogan. “Slow down and smell the exits.”

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

You can now listen to Deminski & Doyle — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite afternoon radio show any day of the week. Download the Deminski & Doyle show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now.

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