Okay, Flinds might be worth keeping around if we look for 1e art where it is wearing a headcover that gives it a leonine appearance.
Even the 5e flind (which gnoll lover seem to hate for the return to being an always evil race you can kill without conscience) has a non-hyena look compared to regular gnolls
Flinds being obsessed with non-hyena predators and taking their image is a good take in my opinion. I would argue it might be a good idea to have flinds be something gnolls can turn into with effort and training rather than being born as flinds.
It might even be something you can connect to self loathing, perhaps from demons cruelly mocking gnolls for resembling such a “pathetic animal*.
*their opinion not mine, I think hyenas have an unfair rap.
Monsters and Stuff 