Mainers reject proposal to revive state's original flag

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine residents loved the state's original flag during the 2020 bicentennial celebration. But the retro flag's popularity wasn't enough to convince voters to make it the state's official flag.

Residents voted Tuesday to keep the existing flag – blue with the state seal – rather than adopt a flag that closely follows the state's original flag – a simple pine tree and a blue North Star.

Various designs based on the flag used from 1901 to 1909 gained popularity during the state's bicentennial celebration in 2020, appearing on hats, sweatshirts and soon license plates, making it something of an unofficial flag.

This played a role in the legislature's approval of a bill allowing Mainers to vote on replacing the current flag. The state's official seal on the current flag depicts a lumberjack, a sailor and the state motto “Dirigo,” Latin for “I lead.”

Last year, Minnesota adopted a new flag after critics criticized the 1858 state flag, which depicted a Native American riding into the sunset while a white settler plowed his field, resting his rifle on a nearby tree stump.

There was no such controversy in Maine. The only criticism of Maine's current flag was that it was boring, since official state seals on a blue background appear on the flags of more than a dozen other states.

Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Race

Also in Maine, residents of Sagadahoc County voted to keep their current sheriff over a challenger who was accused of failing to take action to disarm an Army reservist responsible for the killing of 18 people was responsible for the deadliest mass shooting in the state.

Sheriff Joel Merry won re-election to a fifth term Tuesday by more than Patrol Sgt. Aaron Skolfield.

Both police officers faced difficult questions about the department's handling of Army reservist Robert Card, and both said they did not want their careers to be defined by the events before last year's shooting. Skolfield said in a social media post Wednesday that it is “difficult to unseat an incumbent.”