[z2]

I'm going to ignore the valid concerns about a small group of people hijacking flag designs here, but I think the underlying issue with identical boring flags is design by committee that:

  1. Is established by the mandate that the old flag isn't salvageable,
  2. Isn't experienced in actual act of designing a flag (why would anyone be?),
  3. Can't imagine anything safer than a generic hill / river + sun / star to represent the region, and
  4. Hires an artist who is also not an expert in flag design, but would gladly put another compass rose above a wavy line next to a triangle.

I've seen the same play out with seal redesigns too. A degree in art history (let alone watching a TED talk) doesn't make you a good painter.