Moment: March 2, 2017, 6:45 a.m.

Sunrise splashes across the sky in brilliant bands of tangerine an flamingo pink, clamshell purple and ocean blue that could be the flag of a tropical island nation.

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Horton Park

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Of course, even tropical island nations don't actually have flags incorporating the colors of their lands. For several years, before small children made such intricate and time-consuming pastimes an impossibility, we celebrated United Nations Day each October by making flag cookies. We baked dozens of rectangular (and one custom-cut pennant for Nepal) sugar cookies; gathered small cake decorating spatulas, colored gel tubes, and toothpicks; and mixed up dishes of colored royal icing. The biggest dishes were occupied by the basic red, blue, yellow, black, white and green. With smaller dishes for orange and light blue, we pretty much had our bases covered.

What would the world be like if, instead of the strident primary palette, our flags were composed of more nuanced, natural colors, reflecting the land of their origins?