i think you are moving the goalposts a bit when arguing against the view “that imagery is worthless”. peter (and you in the original post) wrote about symbolism specifically, and in this context symbolism in flags.
i also think there is probably a significant difference between the kind of plots, graphs and other visualisations you see in a research paper, which are aimed at explaining particular results and theories, and flags, which are more meant to associate with concepts, groups, movements and so on. it’s like the difference between a paragraph of prose and a slogan—one of fidelity, i suppose.
i think you are moving the goalposts a bit when arguing against the view “that imagery is worthless”. peter (and you in the original post) wrote about symbolism specifically, and in this context symbolism in flags.
i also think there is probably a significant difference between the kind of plots, graphs and other visualisations you see in a research paper, which are aimed at explaining particular results and theories, and flags, which are more meant to associate with concepts, groups, movements and so on. it’s like the difference between a paragraph of prose and a slogan—one of fidelity, i suppose.