LITERATURE REVIEW

Flag design

Recent textbooks spend only a page or two about flag design, probably because few journalists will ever get to design or redesign a flag during their careers Garcia notes in his Contemporary Newspaper Design (1981, 1992) that the flag is an important part of the newspaper because it creates an identifying link between the newspaper and the reader. Therefore, the flag should convey both the personality of the newspaper �and offer a glimpse into community characteristics� (p. 79), similar to Durkheim�s idea of shared consciousness of a society. The flag seldom, if ever, is redesigned and �is the most constant typographic element in the newspaper.�
   Harrower also acknowledges in The Newspaper Designer�s Handbook (2008) that the flag remains a constant element in front-page design, and is rarely redesigned, �maybe once every few decades.� He says there are two schools of thought concerning flag design. One group contends that the flag should create �a sense of tradition, trust and sobriety� for readers while others argue that the flag should appear �fresh, innovative and graphically sophistically.� Harrower contends the flag should offer clues to the newspaper�s personality.
   Denton (1992) says some newspapers retain vintage flags, such as the two flags in this study, to emphasize their �established traditions in their communities.� This philosophy is similar to the �shared beliefs and moral attitudes� of collective consciousness theory.
   Older newspaper textbooks go into more depth on flag design. Moen (1984) says that, although some illustrations in flags can be amateurish or cluttered, they should reflect the newspaper�s personality and may reflect characteristics of the area, such as a local landmark.
   Arnold (1981) notes that the flag is the most important of the �constants� that aren�t replaced everyday in a newspaper, which include the masthead and folio lines. He likens the flag to a coat of arms that conjures up �the history, legend and spirit of an enduring institution.� (p. 74). Because the flag represents the �signature� of the newspaper, it should be unique to set it apart from the flags of other newspapers. Ornamentation, such as original artwork, can make the flag appropriate and distinctive.
The only time a flag should be redesigned is when it becomes �shopworn.� However, a well designed flag should age �gracefully.�
   Arnold adds that, while the use of ornamentation in flags has declined, original artwork can make a flag memorable to the newspaper audience. In the past, newspapers would include city, state or provincial seals and coats of arms in their flags, as well as line drawings of local landmarks, which depict civic pride in their communities. There is even an element of nostalgia to drawings in flags, which Arnold contends makes it worth saving the artwork or even reviving it if the newspaper has eliminated it during a flag redesign.
   In an earlier textbook, Arnold made reference to the �Wild West� style of flag design, which is particularly relevant to this study. Ornamentation in flags was a form of �home-town boosterism� (p. 215) in many communities of the American West, he notes.
   �Ornamentation � enhanced civic pride, visualized hopes and ambitions, or exaggerated the size, beauty, riches or importance of some tiny cattle town� (p. 215). Although such artwork fell out of fashion for a while, Arnold says some community newspapers have continued to use ornamented flags, which he applauds for its �contribution to � the preservation of history and romanticism.�
Arnold�s design ideas, especially the references to coats of arms, seals and nostalgic symbols, are reminiscent of Jung�s collective unconscious theory, which involves archetypal images derived from cultural, mythical and religious representations.

Collective consciousness, collective unconscious theory

   According to Durkheim�s �The Division of Labor in Society,� the contents of an individual's consciousness are largely shared in common with all other members of their society, creating a mechanical solidarity through mutual likeness. A collective consciousness, he writes, consists of �beliefs and sentiments common to average citizens of the same society� (p. 79). Furthermore, the collective consciousness is passed on through generations, �connecting successive generations with one another� (p. 80). Thus, collective consciousness could help explain why newspaper flags are seldom redesigned, since a well designed flag can effectively serve generations of readers.
   While Durkheim�s theory is largely economic and social, Jung�s work some 40 years later explored the psychology of the collective unconscious. His explorations of archetypes seem particularly relevant to this study. Jung defines archetypes as �universal images that have existed since the remotest times� (p. 5). These unconscious archetypes can take the conscious forms of symbols, myth, fairy tales and artwork. Jung identified the primary archetypal figures as the Mother, Child, Wise Old Man, Hero and the Trickster-Figure. However, archetypes can be infinitely various, depending upon the audience or community that gives them conscious forms. The source of archetypes can come from dreams, the active imagination or paranoid delusions.
   Jung also discusses the mysticism of the symbol of the wheel and explored in depth the meanings of mandalas, many of which take on a wheel-like form. The mandala, he writes, is the �protective circle� that protects from chaotic states of mind. �It became increasingly plain to me that the mandala is the centre. It is the exponent of all paths. It is the path to the centre, to individuation� I knew that in finding the mandala as an expression of the self I had attained what was for me the ultimate." (p. v.) The mandala is so powerful a symbol, Jung said, that it could be considered �the archetype of wholeness.�

Community newspapers

   Most flag ornamentation appears in community newspapers rather than larger, metro publications. This trend isn�t surprising, considering the nature of community journalism. Gilmore (1998) notes that community newspapers perform a unique role in small towns, compared to larger papers in cities. Small-town papers connect people to one another and maintain the sense of community. She defines a community as having a common frame of reference and common knowledge about infrastructure, people and systems.
   Lauterer (2006) says community newspapers affirm the sense of community and the sense of place � the �us-ness� and �extended family-ness� and �interlocking connected-ness� of a town � in other words, a shared, collective consciousness and unconsciousness. That sense of shared experience even infiltrates the newspaper�s flag design. Lauterer suggests that when redesigning a flag that the community be part of the process by having a say in the final production.
METHODOLOGY