YouTube channel humorously ‘grades’ SC state flag, others in viral video. Take a look
Is the South Carolina state flag ‘D tier?’
That’s the relatively low ranking popular YouTube channel CGP Grey gave South Carolina in its recent viral video, “Does your flag fail? Grey Grades The State Flags!”
CGP Grey is an Irish-American educational YouTuber who is based in the United Kingdom. He creates videos that use humor and explain subjects such as politics, economics, history and culture. The channel has nearly 6 million subscribers and the state flag video has garnered more than 3 million views in nine days as of Wednesday.
The video in question is framed as the narrator taking the place of a teacher, asking his class of elementary school students to present their homework assignments, which was to design a state flag for one of the 50 U.S. states. The video then presents each of the real 50 state flags and precedes to break down what’s wrong and right about them, with a few jokes thrown in. The flags are finally placed in a tier list of best to worst.
“Wisconsin, un-ironically, a cheese-based flag would have been better,” the video notes in one of its more scathing flag reviews.
The video also laid out guidelines for how the flags would be graded.
- Keep it simple. Something a child could draw.
- Make it distinct at a distance.
- Three colors or fewer.
- Symbols. Have them.
- The ideal number of words on a flag is zero.
The video took particular offense to flags that had words on them, especially if they had the name of the state on them.
“Because a flag is not a name tag,” the video states. “If you wrote your name on your flag, your flag fails as a flag. No exceptions.”
So how did South Carolina’s flag do compared to those in other states? Well, it got off rather light in the video and managed to pass unlike many others, although barely.
The video notes that South Carolina’s state flag, which is blue and features a white palmetto and white crescent, appears a bit disjointed.
“And I know you love the palmetto, but everyone thinks this is a palm tree,” the video tells South Carolina. “And it’s weird because you have the angel oak, one of the most famous and beautiful trees in the world, which could make a much better design and then there would be zero chance of people confusing you for California.”
The video then shows a mock version of a South Carolina flag using the angel oak tree instead of a palmetto.
For those unaware, the angel oak is a southern live oak tree on Johns Island in Angel Oak Park near Charleston. The 65 foot-tall tree is estimated to be more than 400 years old. The park and the tree receive an estimated 400,000 visitors each year.
“Unlike California, you didn’t write your name so you pass,” the video adds. “But this complicated plant in the center, it’s just not as good as Miss Mississippi’s. D tier.”
This story was originally published April 13, 2023, 7:00 AM.
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