Kinda curious what exactly you mean by this? I am a native Seattleite so I am pretty far removed from the south. What is you want to be able to be that is labeled racist? Apart from the Confederate symbolism that is (I am not saying you want this, just that is one hot button subject I am aware of). As far as that is concerned I understand the patriotic pride that goes with it, but at the same time I understand how closely it is associated to an institution that anybody in their right mind today finds abhorrent. For me the song Dixie does nothing, I find to be musically boring and it does not evoke in me any sort of patriotism. By the same token, I absolutely love the song Sweet Southern Comfort by Buddy Jewell, it evokes a feeling of home time pride that is far different than what is normally felt here in Seattle. I don't know if I like it because of the Southern symbolism therein, or the small town or 'My Home Town' feel that it has.
The Bonnie Blue is more obscure. However, once there are a lot of them are Stars and Bars being waved at a game, someone will research it. It wouldn't matter if the people were minorities. We would all be painted as racist. But it's ok to have wave a Doug Fur. A flag that is tied to an accrual independence movement. They are all just hypocrites.
Except the Doug Fir never has represented a nation that went to war for it's right to continue enslaving fellow humans. Yes succession may have been a states rights issue, but lets be honest the right they were succeeding over was the right to continue slavery. Any symbolism linked to that movement is bound to be an issue. Adopting symbolism that is seen as vulgar by large swathes of society does not seem like a good idea to me. Calling Cascadia an independence movement is really a bit generous, there is virtually no traction for it, and no real serious organizing behind it. The idea of an independent Cascadia is not new, it was envisioned by Thomas Jefferson that the Pacific coast at least would be a strong independent ally of the United States, but not necessarily a part of it. This was probably a logistical thing as continental travel was not fast and easy in the early 1800's. It may be talked about here but usually as an academic conversation, not as a serious movement. From a recognition stand point the Doug Fir is mostly unrecognized here and for those that do know of it, it is probably more associated with the Sounders, Timbers or Whitecaps, not the Cascadia Movement. That is not true of the Stars and Bars or the Battle Flag. The Bonnie Blue would of course benefit from the general lack of recognition until its origins were traced. Then it would be a matter of did it have enough traction in its new use to separate it from its historical context.
Oh and I should be clear as well, I am not calling anyone here racist in any way, that is not a word I take lightly and attachment to a single symbol is not enough to warrant that. I am just questioning the wisdom of using symbols that are widely reviled, and pointing out that the analogy to the Doug Fir is hardly an apples to apples comparison.
I love this. As a son of two Alabamites and growing up in NC before moving to Washington I can definitely say it is sad that Southerns (new or people whose ancestors fought in the Army of Northern Virginia) aren't allowed to have regional pride. I'm bring the Stars and Bars to games anyway, let's change the symbolism.
I will say that we can't use a CSA flag. Which is why I was coming up with other options. This country was founded on slavery and protected under law. This isn't a place for that discussion. However, the Doug Fir is a flag that was created for a secession movement. That is a fact.
http://flag-designer.appspot.com/gwtflags/SvgFileService?d=0&c1=4&c2=4&c3=1&o=6&c4=5&s=5&c5=1 something like this? But I also think we should be open to having random flags such as states and pirate flags. Kind of a mix bag of color and diversity. And I understand why we won't use the Stars and Bars but I would for us to be able to redeem a symbol of rejection to one of inclusion.
http://flag-designer.appspot.com/gwtflags/SvgFileService?d=0&c1=2&c2=4&c3=1&o=6&c4=5&s=5&c5=1 any better?
Now I'm thinking - what else, outside of flora, symbolizes the South and Georgia in particular, without going down the long, dark road of Confederate ghosts?
Deer, honestly. Stags are pretty awesome. Also squirrels. I think both of them could be pretty cool to quarter a flag and have magnolias in two of the squares and deers in the other two.
Everyone work with me here. I don't have photoshop nor do I know how to use it. I have an idea based on this flag. Leave the blue part blue. Change the black to green. Change the fern to a long leaf pine leaf. Then change the stars for a around circle of stars for each state. I know it takes a lot of work to get the idea.
I'll tell you what - I don't want to steal anything from the Silverbacks, even if I've always hated the name and REALLY hated the old logo - but that poster they had of Socrates wearing a beret a la Che Guevara was fantastic.
Fantastic, and I love the RR motif. For years i coached an independent club team called Iron Horse FC, based in a middle Georgia RR town. Our logo was RR based and very cool. I'm curious where you got the colors?
Our colors were selected in a bit of a vacuum. We still today don't know what color the MLS team will be, but we do know the Silverbacks. WHile assuming red will likely be part of the package of any new team, we picked a set of complimentary colors, so our scarf would stand out when worn over a red jersey, and to clear up any possible confusion between TEAM scarves and SUPPORTER scarves.
Interesting discussion regarding southern flags. Someone brought a CSA government flag to our game, but we chose not to use it. I think the modifications make it less apparent and more acceptable. I would really advise against a battle flag though.
I think a flag with the Resurgens Capitol seal would look awesome just like on the Terminus Legion Flag.
confederate battle flag that looks kind of Russian that should not offend anyone... I say we stay away from the confederate flags though, there should be other good options out there.