A version of the original 1901 Maine state flag flies outside the gift shop Shipwreck and Cargo in the Old Port in May. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

A referendum to replace Maine’s official flag with a design from more than a hundred years ago was soundly defeated on Election Day.

Maine voters rejected a proposal to adopt the “Lone Pine” flag, top, inspired by the state’s original flag from 1901, and stick with the current design, bottom, which features the state seal.

Question 5 sought to restore the 1901 “Pine Tree Flag.” But with nearly 80% of votes counted Wednesday afternoon, it was clear that wasn’t going to happen – at least not this year.

More than 669,000 people voted on the measure, which lawmakers agreed to put to a citizens’ referendum in 2023. As of Wednesday afternoon, 55% of voters had opted for the current design, which features the Maine state seal on a blue background.

Pine Tree Flag supporters have lauded its simple design and contrast against other states’ flags. David Martucci, a vexillologist who for decades fought for the old flag to return, said he believed it was the state’s best version, though its term was short lived. (Maine retired the Pine Tree Flag in 1909.)

Martucci said in a phone interview Wednesday that he was disappointed by the loss, but still plans to fly his Pine Tree Flag as high as he can.

“It’s still a Maine flag,” said Martucci. “It’s still a historic Maine flag – you can still buy it, you can still fly it. This doesn’t change people from using it.”

The design had become a sort of unofficial state flag in recent years, appearing on souvenirs and gifts at shops all over the state.

Opponents warned it could be expensive to replace flags at state offices, and that the state seal is important Maine history, too.

The question inspired dozens of letters to the editor over the last few months, mostly objecting to the proposed change.

“As the old saying goes, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’ ” Roland Gagne wrote in a letter to the editor, pointing out that Maine’s existing flag has been around much longer.

Diane Smith said there were “so many other practical places to spend out tax dollars,” and Don Means questioned whether the proposed Pine Tree design too closely resembled others that were carried during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

In May, some people voiced concerns that the flag looked too much like the Appeal to Heaven Flag, which has come to symbolize Christian nationalism and false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. (The Pine Tree Flag’s supporters disagreed that the flags could be mistaken for each other.)

Richard Spear said that the proposed flag doesn’t fully encompass Maine’s uniqueness, including its “iconic Atlantic coastline,” or pay homage to its Civil War veterans like the current flag.

Anna Schaeffer, a graduate student at the University of Southern Maine’s Portland campus, told the Press Herald last week that her most controversial decision was to vote against the flag.

“I think this is probably my hottest take, I voted against the new flag,” she said. “It’s so cartoonish, it just looks like a T-shirt design to me.”

Voters who spoke with the Portland Press Herald on Election Day covered the gamut, dividing Mainers regardless of political party.

In Gorham, it even divided couples. Andrea Chadburn told a reporter Tuesday that she thought the measure was expensive and pointless. Her husband, Scott, piped in that he voted for it.

“I failed a school test as a kid because I couldn’t draw it,” Scott Chadburn said. “But give me a pine tree, a star – I can do that! So yeah, I say change it.”

Many said they were happy to see something light-hearted and extremely local on the ballot in an otherwise contentious presidential election.

Former Democratic State Rep. Sean Paulhaus, who sponsored the 2023 legislation that created the referendum, said Wednesday that he was honored by the momentum he saw leading up to the election.

Even though it failed to pass, Paulhaus feels that the referendum taught people about the flag’s history and how elections work. It included all Mainers, even those who are too young to vote in the election but were allowed to weigh in during the Secretary of State’s contest for the Pine Tree Flag design.

“It’s been a journey for sure,” said Paulhaus. “Would I have liked to see it succeed? Of course, but  I understand that’s how Mainers have decided. But I think there was still a good amount of people supporting it, too.”

David Martucci, a vexillologist, with an original 1901 Maine state flag design. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald

Martucci said he felt the contest was too confusing and voters were misled. He disputed concerns about cost, saying the referendum wouldn’t require any Maine citizens to buy the flag.

Legislative staff have previously said state agencies would absorb most costs to replace the flag within their existing budgets. (The state regularly replaces flags as they become worn and frayed, according to the fiscal note on L.D. 86, the bill that proposed the change by referendum.)

For Martucci, the battle isn’t over. He said he will continue advocating for the Pine Tree Flag to become official.

“I think that Maine was unique in that we had a great flag design that we abandoned in 1909 – it was obvious to me, anyway, and other people who liked the flag design that that was a design worth going back to,” Martucci said.