A proposal to redesign the South Carolina state flag was thrown out after residents mocked and harshly criticized the new design, according to CNN.
The South Carolina State Flag Study Committee was tasked with “proposing an official, uniform design for the state flag based on historically accurate details and legislative adoptions,” according to the committee’s report, and it met no more than five times between 2018 and 2020.
NEW: South Carolina’s flag design committee is going back to the drawing board after the entire internet rose up and declared as one: This flag sucks https://t.co/yK6lOzY7EW
— Avery Wilks (@AveryGWilks) December 30, 2020
The committee’s redesign kept the indigo background and the crescent remained in the same place. However, the palmetto tree in the center of the flag was redesigned, CNN reported.
“Perhaps the most difficult task of the committee has faced in its work has been the adaptation of an accurate … palmetto to appear on the flag.” The committee wrote. (RELATED: Renovations Begin To Turn Ku Klux Klan Store Into Project For Racial Harmony)
The committee analyzed a 1910 drawing of the tree, which was submitted for appearance on the new state flag.
Some South Carolina citizens took aim at the new design of the tree as “raggedy and hideous,” with some claiming that it reminded them of a toilet bowl brush, CNN reported.
Scott Malyerck, a political consultant for the committee, told the Post and Courier that around 95 percent of the feedback received on the flag was negative.
“Message received,” Malyerck simply replied to the paper.
The redesign is reportedly being revised before it heads to a vote by lawmakers in 2021 , according to CNN.