Anyone with an idea for how the Maine state flag should look has a month to submit a design idea, though the contest rules limit just how much of a creative free-for-all will be allowed.

Maine lawmakers agreed last year to let voters decide if they want to adopt a new state flag design that would be more distinctive than the current one, which has a blue background and the state seal, a man standing on each side of a shield that shows a moose resting under a pine tree.

The state seal in the middle of the blue background combination is similar to the look of flags in at least a dozen other states.

The Maine secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, announced on Friday a contest to determine which design would be used as the model ahead of a November referendum on a new flag.

Ms. Bellows said in a statement that choosing the design “is not a job I can do alone.”

“That’s why today I invite every Mainer to consider submitting a design for consideration,” she said. The design rules allow submissions to come from outside of Maine.

Governments have let the public create and vote on designs for civic symbols, including birds, license plates and flags.