Opinion

CAIRNS Column: Examining the flag of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

The flag of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe.

CAIRNS ETANHAN WOTANIN
By Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies
For The Lakota Country Times
lakotacountrytimes.com

This week we wrap up our examination of the nine flags of nations with reservation lands in South Dakota. Last week we evaluated the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe flag and awarded its design 2.5 out of 5 stars. Now let’s see how the flag of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe rates!

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. They 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 flag. The field is dark blue. A tipi with open smoke flaps is the central image. It has a wide black border along its bottom. Immediately above it is a decorative border of red half-diamonds with black circles in the spaces between the diamond points. The tipi is white above the decorative border except for a horizontal black band below the smoke flaps.

Between that band and the decorative band are stylized images of two animals. In the black band around the bottom of the tipi is an amorphous white shape. The tipi appears to be on a representation of a tanned buffalo hide. Encircling the hide are two red circular bands. Centered between them is “Lower Brule Sioux Tribe” along the top and “Lower Brule, South Dakota” along the bottom. All the lettering is red.

Now that we’ve taken a good look at the flag, let’s see how it rates according to the five principles of good flag design. Though it looks simple at first glance, look closer and you’ll begin to see a fair amount of miniature detail on the tipi, not to mention the numerous curves and bends in the outline of the tanned hide behind the tipi. All of this detail is rather puzzling, since it would be hardly discernable at a distance from which most people view flags. And it makes an otherwise straightforward flag design too clunky to gain a star for simplicity.

It’s also hard to award a star for meaningfulness. Other than the quite literal symbolism that comes with spelling out the name and location of the tribe with the English alphabet, the other obvious attempt to signify something historically or culturally significant to the Kul Wicasa Oyate is the inclusion of a tipi and a buffalo hide. However, these are not unique to the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. Instead, they are equally meaningful to the greater Oceti Sakowin confederacy and other Plains nations. Therefore just a half star is awarded for meaningfulness.

Next, let’s count the number of colors utilized on the flag. Ignoring white, there appears to be four: blue, red, black and tan. So the flag misses out on scoring a star for limiting its color choices to three or less. The next criterion, no numbers or letters, is clearly not met as well. That brings us to the last category, distinctiveness. The large central tipi makes this flag distinct from the rest of the flags we’ve discussed. Also the large red lettering on the dark blue field, while not necessarily aesthetically pleasing, certainly makes the flag noticeable. So with its final opportunity the flag picks up a full star.

The final tally for the flag of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe comes to 1.5 stars out of five. Join us next week as we take a look back at all the flags we’ve reviewed!

(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.)

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