The second flag's colors look extremely well balanced in both brightness and color variance between them. That's weirdly satisfying to look at.
But yeah, just having higher contrast in the chart would be a good start. Maybe some kind of three dimensionality with graded shadows? Or like have them as lines, and have them not have such similar angles? But then I expect that to be messy and not quick to read, either.
The very fact that every one of us isn't crashed out, actively fighting, or literally sitting in prison shows that we all do this stuff to at least some degree. If there was an easy answer, history wouldn't constantly repeat itself.