Tocantinsvote

*"this will be a 16-flag tournament of the various ways cam and i (but mostly cam) abused the flag of tocantins a couple weeks ago. vote on your favorite! or vote on the one you think is dumber, i don't care. the winner of this week's vote will be auto-seeded the #1 seed in FlagVote 4, aka FlagIVote: coming to a slack channel near you in winter 2026"*

*--Gregory Severin*

**TocantinsVote** was a tournament held in #vexillology from July 27, 2022 until August 1, 2022. TocantinsVote was hosted by Greg as a way to keep the channel occupied while Flagpoll 2 was in recess, though some questioned whether or not it was necessary. It featured sixteen entrants: fifteen variant flags of Tocantins, Brazil that Cam and Greg created, as well as the actual Tocantins flag. TocantinsVote officially ended after a mashup between the Tocantins and Isle of Skye flags defeated a color-swapped Tocantins flag.

## Background

The idea to hold a TocantinsVote first occurred early in the morning of July 14, 2022, after the original Tocantins flag was included in Flagpoll XIII. The discovery that Sahil gave the "[g]enerally liked" flag a 3 led to debate over whether a different-colored bottom stripe would improve its quality. Cam soon posted a series of hastily-made color swaps to the channel, much to onlookers' entertainment. Eventually, Andrew asked whether or not #vexillology could have a full TocantinsVote, an idea which was met with some enthusiasm. Greg eventually joined in on the color-swapping fun, later remarking to Cam that if desired, TocantinsVote could become a reality during Flagpoll 2's planned intermission.

## TocantinsVote

After posting the recap for Flagpoll XXIV and some "midseason stats", Cam declared Flagpoll 2 to be in recess on July 25, 2022. Two days later, after allowing some time for Sahil to take and pass the bar exam, Greg officially declared TocantinsVote to be in session. The tournament was arbitrarily seeded by Greg, but only for administrative purposes that let him keep track of which flag would draw which opponent. In Round 1 of TocantinsVote, the first ever 11-person clean sweep in #vexillology history occured after a Tocantins edit with two blue stripes defeated a Tocantins edit with the bottom stripe removed. In Round 2, the original Tocantins flag was controversially defeated 5-4 by an edit coloring the bottom stripe mint green. Dubbed "Minty Fresh," that flag would ultimately advance to the final, while the blue-blue flag would be defeated in Round 3. Ultimately, Boatcantins, a late entry to the tournament after Zach joked about wanting a Tocantins edit featuring a silly-looking boat on the Isle of Skye flag instead of the central star, defeated the Minty Fresh flag in the final round on August 1, 2022.

## Aftermath

Though Sahil continued to question the necessity of TocantinsVote, Boatcantins' victory galvanized the channel, particularly Zach. Additionally, two emoji were created in response to the vote. Cam created :tocantins:, a static emoji of the Tocantins flag, on July 27 while the tournament was ongoing. On August 1, Greg created the :skye-boat: emoji in celebration of Boatcantins winning the tournament, and it frequently appears whenever boats of any kind are mentioned. Further Tocantins edits have continued after the tournament's conclusion, notably a Gegcantins flag made as a response to Andrew's derisive comment that he "would rather vote for a tocantins with :geg: as the center icon" than Boatcantins.

## Participating flags in order of elimination

(16) Claustrocantins (Eliminated by Original in Round 1)(13) Hail to the Victors (Eliminated by What if it was Purple? in Round 1)(9) Full Orange Jacket (Eliminated by Minty Fresh in Round 1)(5) Light Blue (Eliminated by Snitnacot in Round 1)(11) Written & Directed by Wes Anderson (Eliminated by Red Ranger in Round 1)(3) Sierra Leocantins (Eliminated by Boatcantins in Round 1)(7) Harder, Better, Faster, Pinker (Eliminated by TocJapantins in Round 1)(15) Lopsided (Eliminated by Blucantins in Round 1)(1) Original (Eliminated by Minty Fresh in Round 2)(12) Snitnacot (Eliminated by What if it was Purple? in Round 2)(6) Red Ranger (Eliminated by Boatcantins in Round 2)(10) TocJapantins (Eliminated by Blucantins in Round 2)(4) What if it was Purple? (Eliminated by Minty Fresh in Semifinal)Blucantins (Eliminated by Boatcantins in Semifinal)(8) Minty Fresh (Eliminated by Boatcantins in Final)(14) Boatcantins (Won Tournament)