New Maine Flag: The Design, the Vote, and Why It Lost

The new Maine flag that would have replaced the current design was rejected by voters on November 5, 2024. Question 5 on the statewide ballot asked whether to adopt a pine tree flag based on Maine’s original 1901 banner, and it failed 55.7% to 44.3%, with 451,366 votes against and 358,912 in favor.¹ The 1909 blue flag with the state coat of arms remains Maine’s official standard.

What the Proposed Flag Looked Like

The design on the ballot was created by Adam Lemire of Gardiner, who submitted it from a hospital while his partner was being induced for labor. It depicted an Eastern White Pine, Maine’s state tree, with 16 branches representing the state’s 16 counties, set beneath a blue North Star on a buff (light tan) background. Lemire said the tree was inspired by white pines he had seen while walking with his young son through Capital Park and the Viles Arboretum in Augusta.²³

Lemire’s design was chosen from more than 400 submissions to a public contest that Secretary of State Shenna Bellows ran under rules set by the referendum law. The statute required a blue North Star and a green pine tree on a buff background, with no words. Entries were judged blindly, and a panel that included legislators from both parties, Maine State Historian Earle Shettleworth, and retired journalist Bill Green picked the winner.²

Why a Change Was Proposed

Maine’s current flag, adopted in February 1909, places the state coat of arms on a dark blue field. The shield shows a moose beneath a pine tree, flanked by a farmer and a sailor, with the North Star and the motto “Dirigo” above and a ribbon bearing the state’s name below.⁴ It belongs to a category flag experts call “seal on a bedsheet,” and it closely resembles the flags of more than 20 other states. A 2001 survey by the North American Vexillological Association that ranked 72 state, territorial, and provincial flags on design quality placed Maine’s 60th.⁵

The flag it replaced, adopted March 21, 1901, was designed by Adjutant General John T. Richards. It featured a green pine tree and a blue North Star on a buff background, with no seal, words, or human figures. The pine tree reflected the species’ importance to Maine’s early shipbuilding economy, and the North Star referenced Maine’s longtime status as the northernmost state in the Union.⁴ The tree’s three roots were said to symbolize the three branches of government, and its cut-off branches likely referred to historical boundary losses, including the separation of New Hampshire in 1629 and the loss of northern Madawaska territory under the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842.⁶

Interest in restoring the pine tree design grew through the late 2010s and early 2020s. Representative Sean Paulhus, a Democrat from Bath, introduced LD 86, “An Act to Restore the Former State of Maine Flag,” in the 131st Legislature. He argued the pine tree was a “better representation of Maine” and said he saw residents flying it on their homes more often than the official flag.⁷

How It Reached the Ballot

The path through the legislature was narrow. The House passed the bill to be enacted on June 13, 2023, by a vote of 72 to 70; the Senate had engrossed it a week earlier.⁸ An amendment from Senator Eric Brakey required a statewide referendum for the final call. Governor Janet Mills did not take a public position and allowed the bill to become law without her signature. Because she held it past the end of the session, the referendum was pushed to November 2024. A spokesperson said Mills “didn’t want to rush the question to the ballot and wants to allow for more discussion before a vote.”⁹ The bill became Public Law Chapter 487 on January 7, 2024.

Why It Lost

Polling foreshadowed the outcome. A September 2024 survey had “yes” and “no” tied at 40% with a large undecided bloc. By late October, a SurveyUSA poll commissioned by FairVote and the Bangor Daily News showed 52% opposed, 33% in favor, and 15% undecided. Republicans were the most likely to oppose, independents were nearly as resistant, and Democrats were described as evenly split.¹⁰

Objections varied. Representative Shelley Rudnicki called Lemire’s design “ugly” and said “it looks like a child drew it.”¹¹ Others worried about the cost of replacing flags across state buildings, though officials said the expense could be “absorbed within existing budgeted resources” by swapping flags out gradually as older ones wore out. Large ceremonial flags cost about $95 each; smaller ones ran around $55.¹² Representative Richard Campbell suggested many voters were simply unaware the question was on the ballot.¹³

A separate pine tree banner also complicated the debate. The “Appeal to Heaven” flag, dating to the Revolutionary War, features a pine tree as its central element and had recently been adopted by Christian nationalist groups and carried by some rioters during the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. When reports surfaced in 2024 that the flag had been displayed at the homes of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and conservative legal activist Leonard Leo, the visual similarity between the two pine tree flags drew national attention.¹⁴ David Martucci, former president of the North American Vexillological Association, said the two flags have “separate and distinct histories.”¹⁵ Senator Brakey called the conflation “bonkers, tribal, and stupid.”¹⁰ Chris Korzen of the Maine Flag Company, which had sold versions of the pine tree design for years, acknowledged the risk: “We’re on the record saying this might not be the right time because of the risk of politicization.”

How the Vote Split Geographically

The result broke along an urban-rural line. Support for the new flag was strongest in southern and coastal towns. Portland voted 68% in favor. Cape Elizabeth and Camden each came in at 66%, with Yarmouth and Kennebunkport at 65%. Opposition ran much higher inland and to the north. Palmyra, Enfield, Ludlow, and Hodgdon each voted 78% against, and Clinton and Corinna registered 76% opposed.¹

What Flag Maine Uses Now

The 1909 flag remains the official state flag. The Associated Press did not call Question 5 until Wednesday afternoon, after 80% of the vote had been counted,¹⁶ and results were certified on December 13, 2024.¹ The pine tree design remains a common informal symbol in Maine and is still sold by private vendors. A representative of the Maine Flag Company said after the vote that “there’s no reason why this original Maine flag can’t stand alongside the official Maine flag” as an unofficial one.¹⁷

1
The New York Times. Results: Maine Question 5, Restore Former State Flag
2
Maine Secretary of State. Flag Contest Winning Design Unveiled
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Maine Public. Maine State Flag Redesign Contest Winner Announced
4
Britannica. Flag of Maine
5
NAVA. The Great NAVA Flag Survey of 2001
6
Portland Press Herald. Unfurling the Facts in the 1901 Maine State Flag Debate
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WABI. Maine Legislators Consider Changing the State Flag Back to Original Design
8
Maine Legislature. LD 86 Summary
9
WGME. Maine State Flag Redesign Vote Pushed Until 2024
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Bangor Daily News. Doomed Flag Shift: Lessons From a Surprising Poll
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Courthouse News Service. Flag Polarized: Will Mainers Ditch Old Design
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Bangor Daily News. Changing Maine State Flag Referendum Cost
13
Maine Public. Early Results Show Mainers Rejecting Referendum to Change the State Flag
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Portland Press Herald. Right-Wing Protest Banner Adds New Wrinkle to Maine Flag Referendum
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Maine Public. Maine’s Proposed State Flag Similar but Distinct From Pine Tree Flag in Recent Headlines
16
Maine Morning Star. Maine Voters Reject Updated Pine Tree Flag Design
17
WMTW. Maine Ballot Questions Election Results