Tristan Hopper every once and a while has a good take, generally has okay takes, often has a pretty lousy take, and then occasionally a brutally horrendous take. His article last year proclaiming the Canadian flag as "the best" isn't brutally horrendous but definitely falls into the left side of his bell curve.
It’s timeless!
One big pain-in-the-butt with the U.S. flag is that they have to manufacture new ones whenever they add a new state.
The argument about "timeliness" is just that so long as there's a country named "Canada" it can have a Maple Leaf. It's worth noting for all his talk about the American flag it hasn't changed since 1959 while the Union Jack has been around since 1801. Meanwhile Canada's flag underwent a change far more radical than either in 1965, and how much do you want to bet some Indians aren't already demanding we change it and oh look there it is. So much for timeless.
It’s easy to reproduce!
Quick! Try to draw the Mexican flag. Now do the Welsh flag. On the semi-frequent occasion that a Brazilian wears their national flag as body paint for a soccer match, they almost always screw up this complicated middle part.
The "Canada's flag is easy to reproduce" claim is laughable. It's an eleven-pointed maple leaf. Nobody west of Sault Ste Marie has even seen one in person. The spines go out in all sorts of random-ish directions for varying lengths. While the Welsh dragon might be hard to draw, it's much harder to draw the flag of Canada then the flag of China, or Chile, or Cuba, or...for fuck's sake we haven't even gotten out of the C-names yet and we're already out of top place. For those wondering by the way, Chile's flag dates back to 1817. China's is shockingly new (1949. but still older than Canada) but sure is easy to reproduce. In fact the rejected old Chinese flags all beat the maple leaf in this fashion.
It’s modular
Here’s a fun detail about the Canadian flag: You can take out the middle symbol and that in itself becomes an instantly recognizable symbol of Canada. Basically no other flag does this. If you flash around Japan’s red dot without context, it would just confuse people.
Somebody needs to get out more. I suggest Switzerland.
It’s unique!
Here’s the problem with most world flags: They all look the same. Mali is just a backwards Guinean flag. Slap a star on it, and it’s the Senegalese flag. If you leave an Italian flag in the sun too long, it becomes an Irish flag.
It's modish! Celebrating a lengthy and common heritage that should be the envy the world over for its benefit to humanity? That's so dorky Australia and New Zealand! Haha, il Tricolore of natural rights/social equality/freedom turn into an trídhathach of Catholics/Protestants/peace between them once you expose them to ultraviolet radiation! Mali and Senegal both wanting to pay tribute to the French who colonized them is so old school. Ewwwwwww.
It’s instantly recognizable!
The whole point of a flag is for it to be instantly recognizable from long distances and in not-ideal conditions.
Uh, you're confusing a national flag with a standard. While both are similar in their point, a flag just had to be seen underneath you. Typically a flag featured a coat of arms, and those certainly aren't recognizable from long distances. Also you can't poo-poo the historically inspired flags in one breath and then hearken back to a fantasy "good old days" where Aussies and Kiwis could torpedo each other's ships at a distance without enduring friendly fire.
But you hoist the Canadian flag in basically any country around the world and people know what it is. And that, my friends, is how you design an effective flag.
