Jack Handy explains the symbols on his flag

Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, May 12, 2008 2:21 PM | permalink

Comedy writer and Army Man publisher Jack Handy wrote a great "Shouts & Murmurs" in the most recent the New Yorker. Here's a small sample:

The plow with the four-leaf clover symbolizes the luck of the farmer.
The quicksand represents the travails of life. The hand sticking out of it is so you know it’s quicksand and not just a dirty spot on the flag.

The bat stands for eternal life, through our lord Dracula.

The sheaf of wheat symbolizes the bounty of the land, and the hope that soon more things will come in sheaves.

The parrot represents the need to communicate, even if it’s only squawks.

The tin of paprika stands for paprika, a spice I hope to learn more about.

Boing Boing challenge: draw Jack's flag. Link

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Discussion

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#1 posted by pauldrye , May 12, 2008 2:48 PM

There's a word (which eludes me right now) for the process whereby clever sayings get transferred from relatively unknown people to people with a historical reputation for wit. The big winners of this are Oscar Wilde and Winston Churchill.

Thanks to the Internet, I think Jack Handey is the record-holder in the opposite direction.

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#2 posted by thegrip , May 12, 2008 2:57 PM

If people do make flags, please repost them! I'd love to see how they turn out.

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#3 posted by squirrelgirl , May 12, 2008 3:03 PM

do we win a prize for making this flag? seriously?

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#4 posted by seanisblogging , May 12, 2008 4:45 PM

Although it looks like the artwork of a 3rd grader coming off a bender, I think it is a pretty fitting tribute to a great vision. And yes, all I had was blue…

Link to the full size image

ALL HAIL DRACULA!

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#5 posted by Hgiel , May 12, 2008 7:50 PM

This reminds me of high school when we had to recreate the Shield of Achilles according to the Illiad. Man, that took a while.

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#6 posted by deadfrog

, May 12, 2008 8:12 PM

Actually, Jack Handey didn't publish Army Man, he was a contributor. The publisher of Army Man was George Meyer, a longtime writer for the Simpsons.

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#7 posted by ZehnKatzen , May 12, 2008 9:08 PM

Wow. The collective head of all the members of the American Vexillogical Society just asploded.

BTW, folks, it's Handey with an E. Not handy as in "handyman", though Jack would probably be flattered by the conflation, of course, unless he isn't.

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#8 posted by mneptok

, May 12, 2008 11:35 PM

Hail Dracula, who through his squawks brings the lucky wheat and paprika farmers through all of life's problems.

Click for flag.

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#9 posted by hjo3

, May 13, 2008 2:27 AM

My try at drawing it:

Flickr link

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#10 posted by ZehnKatzen , May 13, 2008 4:18 AM