The flag of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
CAIRNS ETANHAN WOTANIN
By Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies
For The Lakota Country Times
lakotacountrytimes.com This week we continue our examination of the nine flags of nations with reservation lands in South Dakota. Last week we evaluated the Rosebud Sioux Tribe flag and awarded its design 3 stars out of a possible 5 stars, and the week before that the Yankton Sioux Tribe flag garnered 3.5 stars. This week we will see how many stars the flag of the Oglala Sioux Tribe will earn! Remember, flag designs can earn up to one star for each of the five principles of good flag design identified by Ted Kaye in his pamphlet, Good Flag, Bad Flag: How to Design a Great Flag. The principles are 1) keep it simple, 2) make it meaningful, 3) use 2-3 colors, 4) avoid numbers and letters, and 5) be distinctive. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at the Oglala Sioux Tribe flag. Its background is red with a simple dark blue border all the way around. In the center of the flag are nine stylized white tipis, viewed from the front with triangular cutouts representing their doorways. At the top of the tipis are stylized design elements that perhaps suggest tipi poles and smoke flaps. The tipis are arranged in a circle with their tops pointed away from the center of the flag and their edges touching. Their doorways create the impression that the red circle in the center of the flag has nine triangular points equally spaced around its perimeter. The overall look of the flag is not complicated. You could give the above description to a child and ask her to draw it and she’d probably be able to come pretty close to the actual design. But the fussiness at the tops of the tipis prevents the design from earning a whole star. Instead, we award it half a star for simplicity. The design does however earn a full star for meaningfulness since tipis are the traditional homes of Oglalas and the nine tipis represent the nine districts of the reservation. Plus the colors themselves are full of meaning! Red is associated with Wi (the Sun) and with Okaga, the quadruplet brother whose direction is south. Many will also point out that this color represents the blood shed by Oglalas for their homeland. The color blue is associated with Skan (the Sky) and with Yanpa, the quadruplet brother whose direction is east. And the color white is associated with Yata, the quadruplet brother whose direction is north. In regards to the number of different colors used, the flag scores another star for using only red, white and blue, thus fulfilling the third criteria of good flag design. Unlike all of the other flags of tribal nations with lands in South Dakota, the Oglala Sioux Tribe flag does not contain any letters or numbers, and therefore earns another star. Finally, the flag earns a star for its distinctiveness. From a distance this flag is easily recognizable among all the national flags of the world! Based on the five principles of good flag design, the final rating for the flag of the Oglala Sioux Tribe is an excellent 4.5 out of a possible 5 stars. It is a well-designed flag and if the tops of the tipis were simplified it would earn the maximum possible 5 stars. Nevertheless, it has now taken over the top spot on the scoreboard of the nine flags of nations with lands in South Dakota. Up next week, we evaluate the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe flag design and see if its score can equal or surpass the current top score of 4.5 stars. (The Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies (CAIRNS), based in Martin, South Dakota, is an Indian-controlled nonprofit research and education center that is committed to advancing knowledge and understanding of American Indian communities and issues important to them by developing quality educational resources and innovative projects that acknowledge and incorporate tribal perspectives, and by serving as a meeting ground for peoples and ideas that support those perspectives.) Find the award-winning Lakota Country Times on the Internet, Facebook and Twitter and download the new Lakota Country Times app today.
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Column: Examining the flag of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (09/19) CAIRNS Column: Examining the flag of the Yankton Sioux Tribe (09/09)
