Liberia is a West African country, and it's a fascinating place with a fascinating history.
It was the first modern African country to elect a female president - who won a Nobel
Prize.
It's also the only African country that was founded by American colonists, instead of
European colonists.
And as you can tell by their flag, those American colonists had quite an influence on the country.
But, if you are a big vexillology fan, you've probably heard of Liberia for another reason.
Um...
Liberia is divided into 15 counties.
Each one of these counties has its own flag, and they're very... different.
They're very interesting.
When I first discovered these flags, I was very skeptical as to whether they were real
or not.
Like, no, someone probably made these up on the internet or something.
So I double-checked; I did some research.
I did some sleuthing online, and it turns out these are 100% real.
The government of Liberia has used them on stamps, and on official documents, and there
are photos of these flags actually in use in Liberia.
So yeah, they are real.
Many people online have been saying some very negative things about these flags, such as...
"You would think the Liberian government was sponsored by Microsoft Paint."
"I would like to say they've used clip art, but I don't know where you would find clip
art that bad."
"It's almost like someone served me up several plates, each with a turd on them."
And okay, I guess these are some of the world's most unusual flag designs, sure.
But I think these flags honestly need a little bit of defending.
I don't think I can join this criticism bandwagon.
After looking at these designs, and thinking about it, I think someone needs to say these
flags are actually, overall, pretty good.
And before you laugh - before you laugh and mock me in the comments section - I think
my fellow YouTubers who are also into flags will back me up on this, okay?
The flags of Liberia's counties are actually pretty good.
Right, KhAnubis?
Okay, you cannot be serious about that.
Right, Vexillology Hub?
What?
The... the flags of Liberia's counties.
They're not as bad as people say they are.
Are you insane?
Fine!
Fine, fine, fine.
I guess I will have to convince all of you, then.
Here are three reasons why the flags of Liberia's counties are awesome... okay, okay... are
good.
In general.
Let's go.
Number 1: They use symbolism pretty well.
For example, here is Grand Kru County's flag.
There's a palm tree in the center, surrounded by vertical stripes on both sides.
And the colors of these stripes - green, white, and yellow - mean things about Grand Kru County.
Green for example represents the forests and savannas, the white represents purity, and
the yellow represents the gold deposits that exist in the county.
That's pretty cool.
The flag of Montserrado County features two colors coming together in the background:
blue and red.
And in the center of the flag is a picture of an island.
This design represents what happened on Providence Island, which is located in Montserrado County.
That's where two cultures met for the first time: the American colonists and the native
people of Liberia.
The flag of Grand Bassa County has a dark blue background.
This color represents loyalty, but my favorite part of the design are these four red and
white stripes in the lower right.
These four stripes represent the four people from Grand Bassa County who signed the Liberia
Declaration of Independence in 1847.
Now I will admit the flag of Lofa County does look a little weird, but there is still meaning
to be had here even though I would rather that the arm be attached to something.
But still, there is meaning here.
You'll notice the arm is holding a bundle of sticks, and the arms is stretching across
this wavy blue shape.
That wavy blue shape represents the Lofa River.
The green in the background represents the forest, and the arm stretching across the
whole thing represents unity across Lofa County.
See? There's something there.
The flag of Maryland County has a lot of symbolism in the colors it uses.
The blue represents courage, the green represents vegetation, and the yellow represents sunshine.
But the yellow is also a really neat historical reference, because for 3 years before it joined
Liberia, Maryland County was actually the Republic of Maryland - an independent country.
For just 3 years.
And by the way, not a single one of these 15 county flags has text.
Not a single one of them has a boring, complicated coat of arms or seal.
They don't go for the lazy stuff; they don't go the lazy route like so many flags in America,
and Britain, and the Philippines.
They don't do that; they can find symbolism through simpler shapes
and colors and things like that.
Which brings me to my second point.
Reason Number 2: These flags are fairly simple.
Now, flags don't have to be simple to be good.
Good flags should be, you know, recognizable and memorable.
But that usually means simple flags do better than complicated ones.
And the flags of Liberia's counties pull off this recognizable, memorable simplicity
pretty well.
Just look at the flags we already covered: Grand Bassa County, for example.
Grand Kru County.
You also have the nice flag of Rivercess County with its blue and white horizontal stripes,
and a tree, and a rising sun.
And also, look at the flag of Grand Cape Mount County.
It's a very simple design: a white background with a green border,
and a green mountain shape.
Also the flag of Sinoe County.
It's got a white background with a green cross.
It looks very nice that way, and it's simple.
The only not-simple thing about these flags - that some people might say - is the miniature
Liberia flag design that they all have in the upper left corner.
Honestly, it's not that complicated, especially compared to
some coats of arms and seals out there.
And it works fairly well; it ties them all together.
It's a unique thing that you don't really see on many flags.
Which brings me to my final third point: These flags are unique.
These flags stand out.
There's a reason we're all talking about them online.
Look at the flag of Bomi County.
It has a purple background.
That is extremely rare in vexillology, and I think they pulled it off pretty well.
Also, let's look at the flag of Maryland County.
I like the idea of having one of the stripes not be a single color, but a picture.
You know, instead of yellow-green-yellow or something like that, they did yellow-picture-yellow.
I think that looks pretty cool.
Okay, honestly, most people would prefer the flag of this Maryland over Maryland County.
Okay, maybe they could've drawn the picture a little better.
The proportions do look a bit weird, I'll admit.
But still, you're not really gonna notice that too much when it's flying on a flagpole.
And then there's the flag of Gbarpolu County - and yes the G is silent - and yes, the way
they drew the diamond does bug me a little bit.
Last time I checked, there's no such thing as black light.
But still, I kinda like what they're going for here.
A yellow background is fairly rare in flags, and it stands out when you see all the Liberian
county flags together.
Just fix the little diamond thing and you might have something great here, I think.
Also, my favorite one is probably the flag of Bong County, with a purple and orange background
showing mountains on the horizon.
I don't know of a single flag elsewhere in the world that does that.
But there's still one county flag of Liberia I haven't mentioned yet, and that's the flag
of River Gee County, which seems to have gotten the most attention on the internet.
The main complaint seems to be that it looks like one of those terrible landscapes that
we all drew in kindergarten, with the very simple trees and sky and green, and... okay.
First of all, the image that is going around the internet most of the River Gee flag appears
to just be taken from Wikipedia, and this Wikipedia version does not appear to be accurate.
The images of the flag I've actually seen in photos from Liberia do not have the trees
on a slope; they have them on a flat horizon.
But still, they still look quite... odd, and...
I have no explanation why the river appears to be coming out of the tree's roots.
I have no explanation as to why those two trees in the back appear to be levitating.
I did research.
I did the research, and I tried to find an explanation.
I don't have one.
I wish I did.
But that being said, I think the flags of the counties of Liberia, in general,
are pretty good.
They're simple, they're symbolic, and they're unique.
What more do you really want?
And it appears that many Liberians themselves agree with me.
They're putting them on signs, they're putting them in offices, they're putting them on display.
People in Liberia often seem to like them.
Now, not everyone in Liberia is a fan of them.
For example, there's this guy Christian Chea.
He is a representative from River Gee County, and he said a few years ago, "All the 15 flags
are rotten and their condition does not represent the various counties and the country as a
whole."
And a lot of people at the meeting that he was at agreed with him on that.
So, not all Liberians will agree with me on this, but many do.
I think the flags are in general pretty cool.
I might disagree with Vexillology Hub and KhAnubis - both of which you should subscribe
to, by the way; really cool channels - but I want to see what you guys think.
Am I right on this or am I wrong on this?
The Liberian county flags: good or bad?
Let me know in the comments.
Do you have a favorite one?
Do you have a least favorite one?
Just write it down and I can't wait to read it.
Anyway, thank you guys so much for watching this video.
Have an awesome day.
Seeya.