4 ms·

User uploads fake flag to Wikipedia, flag companies run with it.

65 points by chaosmachine 17y ago

alttab 17y ago
I think this is good commentary for what people will believe. This suggests that entrepreneurs can make larger leaps in "logic" (although they may not be based upon reality or fact) and make a success out of it. I'm sure there are examples of this in real life. Microsoft anyone? (we certainly cannot deny their revenue.)
- dschobel 17y ago
  It's usually just called advertising.
ars 17y ago
It's a pretty good flag. I think Herefordshire should adopt it.
- gphil 17y ago
  Maybe the contemporary way to get a new flag adopted is simply to introduce it to the masses (in this case via Wikipedia) and see if it sticks.
  - nfnaaron 17y ago
    Run it up the flag pole and see who salutes it, as it were.
- petercooper 17y ago
  I agree. It's pretty naff but it still beats my own county's eye-piercing real flag design: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Flag_of_Lincolnshire.svg/800px-Flag_of_Lincolnshire.svg.png http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Fla...
  - ThinkWriteMute 17y ago
    Oh jesus, whoever designed that clearly hated people with sight.
  - ErrantX 17y ago
    Ah a fellow Lincolnshire dweller! And yes I agree: it is an awful flag (
iamwil 17y ago
I don't know what he's complaining about. The flag was uploaded as public domain. People should be able to do whatever they want with it. If he wants to make money, he should go produce and sell flags too.
- chaosmachine 17y ago
  I don't think he's complaining, really.
  - lutorm 17y ago
    Yeah I thought he's more amazed that people apparently just take stuff off of wikipedia and start manufacturing it without cross-checking with a single other source...
    - Semiapies 17y ago
      He is. Flags are a market with a necessarily huge selection, though - why wouldn't they snag every legally available design someone might buy? They probably manufacture the less-common selections on an as-needed basis, after all.
  - BearOfNH 17y ago
    Several years ago I updated a particular Wikipedia puzzle writeup and included software to generate the (nontrivial) puzzle artwork. At which point I got my hands slapped (there should be a verb for that), and was told Wikipedia was not a code repository. Evidently Wikipedia is also not a repository for original artwork. I suppose there's some sense to that, what with the high price of storage and countless contributors wishing to upload original works.
Tangurena 17y ago
I am amused. Although someone already has it flagged for deletion. Gotta add my 2 bits. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Deletion_requests/File:Flag_of_herefordshire.PNG http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Deletion_requests/...
- dschobel 17y ago
  The humorless editors of wikipedia need to stop fighting it and embrace their role as dictators of truth already.
  - Tangurena 17y ago
    Humorless indeed. And folks wonder why the wikipedia foundation has to beg so hard for donations, well, the constant bureaucracy and rule-worship tends to disuade contributions.
chrischen 17y ago
http://www.dissidentcongress.com/index.php?page=countyflags.php&flag=herefordshire&ext=gif http://www.dissidentcongress.com/index.php?page=countyflags.... I think this is the real flag, if anyone cares.
- klipt 17y ago
  The Wikipedia version seems better laid out, IMO.
  - Zev 17y ago
    Maybe the layout of the real one has some symbolism thats specific to Herefordshire that we don't know about. Hard to say one is better without knowing the history behind the real one.
  - DrJokepu 17y ago
    There's a whole study behind flags and heraldry which is many centuries old. It has its strict rules. You can't just go around and "fix the layout" according to the latest esthetic trends. Look at the flags / coats of arms designed in the 60s / 70s to see what sort of disaster this leads to.
    - dualogy 17y ago
      Just curious: what sort of "disaster" DID they lead to?
      - DrJokepu 17y ago
        Of course I meant "disaster" metaphorically. No one actually died or got injured because of ugly coats of arms and flags. Here are some examples of antiheraldic flags and coats of arms: * The flag of the State of Georgia http://www.50states.com/flag/gaflag.htm http://www.50states.com/flag/gaflag.htm * The coat of arms of a city in Easter Europe: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/hu/8/89/Zalaegerszeg_antiheraldikus_1974-1989.PNG http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/hu/8/89/Zalaegerszeg_a... * Generally any flag / coat of arms designed in the Soviet Union
sown 17y ago
The internet is a very complicated machine that can turn boredom into a flag.

65 points by chaosmachine 17y ago

I think this is good commentary for what people will believe. This suggests that entrepreneurs can make larger leaps in "logic" (although they may not be based upon reality or fact) and make a success out of it. I'm sure there are examples of this in real life. Microsoft anyone? (we certainly cannot deny their revenue.)

dschobel 17y ago
It's usually just called advertising.

ars 17y ago

It's a pretty good flag. I think Herefordshire should adopt it.

gphil 17y ago
Maybe the contemporary way to get a new flag adopted is simply to introduce it to the masses (in this case via Wikipedia) and see if it sticks.
- nfnaaron 17y ago
  Run it up the flag pole and see who salutes it, as it were.
petercooper 17y ago
I agree. It's pretty naff but it still beats my own county's eye-piercing real flag design: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Flag_of_Lincolnshire.svg/800px-Flag_of_Lincolnshire.svg.png http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Fla...
- ThinkWriteMute 17y ago
  Oh jesus, whoever designed that clearly hated people with sight.
- ErrantX 17y ago
  Ah a fellow Lincolnshire dweller! And yes I agree: it is an awful flag (

iamwil 17y ago

I don't know what he's complaining about. The flag was uploaded as public domain. People should be able to do whatever they want with it. If he wants to make money, he should go produce and sell flags too.

chaosmachine 17y ago
I don't think he's complaining, really.
- lutorm 17y ago
  Yeah I thought he's more amazed that people apparently just take stuff off of wikipedia and start manufacturing it without cross-checking with a single other source...
  - Semiapies 17y ago
    He is. Flags are a market with a necessarily huge selection, though - why wouldn't they snag every legally available design someone might buy? They probably manufacture the less-common selections on an as-needed basis, after all.
- BearOfNH 17y ago
  Several years ago I updated a particular Wikipedia puzzle writeup and included software to generate the (nontrivial) puzzle artwork. At which point I got my hands slapped (there should be a verb for that), and was told Wikipedia was not a code repository. Evidently Wikipedia is also not a repository for original artwork. I suppose there's some sense to that, what with the high price of storage and countless contributors wishing to upload original works.

Tangurena 17y ago

I am amused. Although someone already has it flagged for deletion. Gotta add my 2 bits. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Deletion_requests/File:Flag_of_herefordshire.PNG http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Deletion_requests/...

dschobel 17y ago
The humorless editors of wikipedia need to stop fighting it and embrace their role as dictators of truth already.
- Tangurena 17y ago
  Humorless indeed. And folks wonder why the wikipedia foundation has to beg so hard for donations, well, the constant bureaucracy and rule-worship tends to disuade contributions.

chrischen 17y ago

http://www.dissidentcongress.com/index.php?page=countyflags.php&flag=herefordshire&ext=gif http://www.dissidentcongress.com/index.php?page=countyflags.... I think this is the real flag, if anyone cares.

klipt 17y ago
The Wikipedia version seems better laid out, IMO.
- Zev 17y ago
  Maybe the layout of the real one has some symbolism thats specific to Herefordshire that we don't know about. Hard to say one is better without knowing the history behind the real one.
- DrJokepu 17y ago
  There's a whole study behind flags and heraldry which is many centuries old. It has its strict rules. You can't just go around and "fix the layout" according to the latest esthetic trends. Look at the flags / coats of arms designed in the 60s / 70s to see what sort of disaster this leads to.
  - dualogy 17y ago
    Just curious: what sort of "disaster" DID they lead to?
    - DrJokepu 17y ago
      Of course I meant "disaster" metaphorically. No one actually died or got injured because of ugly coats of arms and flags. Here are some examples of antiheraldic flags and coats of arms: * The flag of the State of Georgia http://www.50states.com/flag/gaflag.htm http://www.50states.com/flag/gaflag.htm * The coat of arms of a city in Easter Europe: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/hu/8/89/Zalaegerszeg_antiheraldikus_1974-1989.PNG http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/hu/8/89/Zalaegerszeg_a... * Generally any flag / coat of arms designed in the Soviet Union

sown 17y ago

The internet is a very complicated machine that can turn boredom into a flag.