The Washington State Flag

And a move to change it

This week a bill was proposed in the Washington State Legislature that would purport to change our flag. In a way, I understand it, the thing is ugly, and way too wordy. The bill mentions that, in much more civil terms.

Public Domain image, courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Why would I write about this?

Because there is a very cool story to tell!

Our flag is nothing but the Seal of the State of Washington on a green background. It’s that Seal where things get interesting. Because its use is regulated by law.

In a nutshell, if you want to create something with the Seal, you have to get permission from the Secretary of State. Let’s say that you want to make lapel pins out of the Seal. Well, you can do it, theoretically, but you’re going to have to get permission first. So we do have things like little State Seal lapel pins, sold by the State itself in the gift shop at the State Capitol for example. Ugly and poorly made little plastic things, or upgraded little things out of some kind of tin or pot metal. You can imagine them, if you’ve ever spent much time fiddling with lapel pins. Cheap little things.

But, if you want to use the Seal, that is what you have to do.

And really, that’s not odd. Brands for example generally have very specific rules about how their symbols can be used. That’s how things work in our capitalistic society where intellectual property is so very important.

But, here’s where it gets interesting.

There was a guy, one regular guy, who didn’t need any permission to use the State Seal. His last name was Talcott, he was a jeweler, and he could do whatever on earth he wanted to do with the image of our State Seal. His descendents too.

Why?

Because he designed the thing.

The story goes something like: Washington needed a State Seal, and its founding fathers didn’t have a good idea for one. A group of them were in a restaurant or wherever in Olympia, wracking their brains, trying to come up with something good.

Mr. Talcott went up to them, placed an engraving of President Washington on the table, and rolled up a tube capturing Washington’s head within. Add a few words around the edge, and presto, the Washington State Seal was created.

And because of Mr. Talcott’s work, he got to use it.

And use it he did.

As I mentioned, he (and his descendants) was a jeweler. He carved the most exquisite pins out of gold, and he sold those for a long time. Mighty expensive lapel pins, let me tell you, but true works of the engraver’s art, on a minuscule scale.

Legislators and other elected officials were his primary market, and one thing that was really popular among men twenty-five and thirty years ago was to buy one of his pins and then have it set into a large ring. These were truly beautiful pieces.

In 2003, all of this came to an end. The last Talcott left the jewelry business after one hundred and thirty-one years.

It has been a lot of years now since I’ve seen an engraved, solid gold, Talcott State Seal pin on anyone wandering around our State Capitol.

I’ve got one. Locked in my safe. I stopped wearing it when Talcott’s stopped making them, fearful that I could easily lose such a historical treasure. I presume that others who may have them have done something similar.

Ultimately though, elected officials are generally older people, so many who may have owned one of these beautiful pieces have likely died. And how would their family know that the one lapel pin in a collection of dozens was a true work of art in gold, surrounded by all those others of pressed tin?

The last few years wandering the halls of the Legislature I’ve worn a Kentucky Colonels pin. I think it looks really cool, and it is an appropriate Red, White, and Blue.

But, this morning, a friend let me know about this bill to change our flag.

And that got me thinking about our State Seal, and Talcott, the jeweler who created it.

I think I will drag that exquisite Talcott pin out of my safe and wear it for the remainder of this year’s Legislative Session. I wonder if anyone will notice it in the sea of plastic and pot metal.

As for our State flag, I’m of two minds.

If the people of Washington want to change it because it is ugly and hard to manufacture, I’m OK with that.

But, if the move to change it is the result of the same motivation that was used to justify the desecration of statues across our land a few years ago, then I say leave it how it is. We do not in any way benefit from ignoring or hiding our history and the people who made it. Indeed that is nothing but negative destructive force. We’ve had enough destruction, our world needs more creation.