Power Rankings: State Flags

US State Flag Rankings

Consider this the sequel to our license plate power rankings. Here are the US state flags ranked 1-51 (including DC). This is obviously just our opinion and we clearly have zero expertise in vexillology.

*This was slightly revised in 2023.

1. California

It has sort of a Soviet vibe, but it’s an outstanding flag.

2. Colorado

You can’t walk into a gift shop in Colorado without seeing this on every mug, hat and sweatshirt. It’s a bit surprising that they didn’t somehow incorporate the Rocky Mountains, but it’s an A+ nonetheless.

3. New Mexico

The Zia sun symbol is better than any of the state seals that adorn most other flags.

Read More: World Flag Rankings

4. Maryland

No one is more obsessed with their flag than the citizens of Maryland. Despite being pretty wacky, it’s definitely a top 5 flag. I’m sure any readers from Maryland will be up in arms that it wasn’t ranked higher.

5. Wyoming

Bison are a top 10 animal for silhouettes. That’s just a fact.

6. South Carolina

According to Wikipedia, “South Carolina’s flag was ranked as the 10th best designed state or provincial flag in North America by a non-scientific poll on the website of the North American Vexillological Association in 2001”. Well, according to our highly scientific process, they’re actually number 6.

7. Arizona

This is supposed to be a representation of the sun setting over the Colorado River. I think it bears a striking resemblance to the old “Free Tibet” bumper stickers. Either way, it’s enough to crack the top 10.

8. Missouri

These bears are striking the most ridiculous pose in the history of their species. It’s so ridiculous that you can’t not love it.

9. Alaska

It’s astounding that groups of full grown adults consistently come up with such heinous designs for flags, license plates, logos, etc. Meanwhile Alaska’s flag was designed by 13 year old Benny Benson who won a contest back in 1927. This kid nailed it.  He won $1,000 for his winning design plus they threw in a gold watch and a trip to Washington DC. That’s more than $13,000 in today’s dollars. When you consider that the US bought Alaska from the Russians for like 20 bucks and a cup of coffee, Benny must have been living like a king.

10. North Carolina

Texas with more character…and upside-down.

11. Texas

This is another flag that is flown with a ton of state pride.

12. Oregon

Oregon was the only state who thought to make a two-sided flag. If they had simply stuck with the one sided flag, they would have disappeared into the sea of unoriginal blue and yellow designs, but the beaver skyrocketed them into the upper echelon.

13. Washington, D.C.

DC always gets left out, but we like DC, so we’re including them in our list once again. It’s a straightforward design, but it works.

14. Indiana

Simple. Stately. Symmetrical.

15. Massachusetts

In typical Massachusetts fashion, it’s nothing flashy or overstated. This is one of the better state seals and one of the only flags with a plain white background.

16. Tennessee

At first I wasn’t crazy about this one but it’s grown on me.

17. Rhode Island

The nautical theme is fitting for Ocean State. The white background looks good too.

18. Iowa

This feels a bit too French for a US state flag, but I suppose it makes sense given that Iowa was part of the Louisiana Purchase. Not a bad flag overall.

19. Ohio

This is a weird one. But I like it.

20. Georgia

Here’s another variation on the Texas/Chile theme. It’s a good looking flag, but two stripes is a decidedly better look than three.

21. Arkansas

I understand that there’s a lot of symbolism in this flag, but visually it’s just mediocre.

22. Mississippi

Mississippi adopted a new flag in 2021. It’s better than the prior design, but still not a top tier flag.

23. Maine

How do you not love these two guys? Easily the two most swashbuckling gentlemen in the flag world. And the moose in the center ties it all together. This is one of the better boring blue flags.

24. Virginia

When seemingly every other state has a blue flag with a seal in the middle, you have to do something to stand apart from the crowd. Virginia does exactly that. It’s the ultimate underdog story in flag form.

25. Michigan

The expression on that moose’s face is priceless. It looks so uncomfortable holding that pose and clearly wants to be anywhere else in the world other than holding up a picture of Bigfoot with the assistance of a disgruntled elk. It’s a strange flag…but I like it.

26. Utah

The whole “Industry” thing is a bit odd, but otherwise it’s an attractive seal.

27. Nevada

I can appreciate the fact that they didn’t want to center their seal like everyone else.

28. Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania’s coat of arms is one of the better ones, but the fact that it’s just another blue flag prevents it from ranking higher.

29. New Hampshire

New Hampshire’s coastline is only 13 miles long but why not throw a ship on there.

30. New York

This is such an average flag. At least it inspired a classic episode of South Park.

31. Vermont

I expect so much more out of the Green Mountain State. First of all, their flag needs to be green. There’s no other option. The fact that they so willingly designed a boring blue flag just like everyone else is extremely disappointing. You expect that from the flyover states, but not Vermont. It may be one of the better boring blue flags, but I still feel like Vermont let me down. Also, the deer head looks like it should be mounted on a wall over someone’s fireplace.

32. Louisiana

The state of Louisiana has an obsession with pelicans. Eagles are so cliche anyway.

33. North Dakota

Components of an unoriginal state flag: 1) Blue background. 2) Bald eagle with a ribbon in it’s mouth.. 3) 13 stars. 4) A Latin phrase.

34. Nebraska

Are you tired of blue flags yet?

35. Oklahoma

This would be so much better with a different background color.

36. Florida

At least they tried harder than Alabama and put a seal on top of the red “X”.

37. Idaho

There’s sort of an Inception thing going on in Idaho’s state seal with the nature scene within a nature scene. Way too much happening here.

38. Kentucky

Kentucky’s flag features Daniel Boone and Henry Clay but for some reason Colonel Sanders was left out.

39. Montana

Putting the state’s name in large letters usually takes away from the design. In this case there wasn’t much to take away from to begin with.

40. Wisconsin

The obnoxious block letters take away from the the badger crawling on top of the coat of arms.

41. Kansas

I have officially run out of things to write about blue flags with seals in the middle.

42. South Dakota

Not only is the color scheme terrible, they for some reason feel the need to include the name “South Dakota” twice.

43. West Virginia

The blue border isn’t doing it for me.

44. Delaware

These guys are trying to act like they’re as cool as their counterparts on the Maine flag, but there’s no hiding the fact that they’re huge dweebs in comparison.

45. Washington

George Washington deserves better than this.

46. Hawaii

Ignoring the fact that it looks as if Hawaii secretly wishes they were part of Great Britain, this flag is difficult to look at.

47. Minnesota

Royal/navy blue backgrounds may be overused, but light blue backgrounds just look bad.

48. Connecticut

“Qui transtulit sustinet” transaltes to “He who transplanted still sustains”. It’s a very fitting motto at the moment seeing as one of the state’s largest employers (General Electric) just uprooted itself and left for greener pastures in Massachusetts. Rumor has it they were fed up with looking at Connecticut’s ugly flag all the time.

49. Alabama

Boring…

50. Illinois

It looks like Illinois was kind enough to let local elementary school students design their flag…Just kidding. If that were the case it would have come out much better.

51. New Jersey

Pretty atrocious color scheme. It also looks like the woman on the left has Where’s Waldo’s hat hanging from her spear. We may have finally figured out where Waldo is (was?).

*All photos are from Wikipedia