Flags

[jal]

As WeepingElf said, it is basically just a colour-swap/rotation of the Bavarian flag, so it makes no sense to call it unrealistic.

The Bavarian flag is unrealistic too. It's existence defies logic.


JAL

[zyxw59]

Flag for my yet to be named con-country:

The nation is mostly agricultural, so the hoe represents farmers, the green represents the fertile land, the blue represents the sky, and the white circle represents the sun. The circle also represents equality and democracy, as no point on it is favored over any other.

[Herr Dunkel]

Flag for my yet to be named con-country:

The nation is mostly agricultural, so the hoe represents farmers, the green represents the fertile land, the blue represents the sky, and the white circle represents the sun. The circle also represents equality and democracy, as no point on it is favored over any other.

The symbolism is pretty shallow, I'd have to say, not to mention that I don't understand the circle's symbolism.

[Acid Badger]

Flag for my yet to be named con-country:

The nation is mostly agricultural, so the hoe represents farmers, the green represents the fertile land, the blue represents the sky, and the white circle represents the sun. The circle also represents equality and democracy, as no point on it is favored over any other.

Looks like a nation of golf players to me.

[Jipí]

Flags are about recognizability from far, at least traditionally. So leave that hoe out, or maybe reduce it to a diagonal black bar that goes over the whole length. Elements on the hoist side are probably more common than ones on the outer edge, so I'd put the sun in the inner top quarter instead of the outer one, unless you go for the diagonal bar.

NE: So something like this looks more flaggy IMO:

[zyxw59]

Flags are about recognizability from far, at least traditionally. So leave that hoe out, or maybe reduce it to a diagonal black bar that goes over the whole length. Elements on the hoist side are probably more common than ones on the outer edge, so I'd put the sun in the inner top quarter instead of the outer one, unless you go for the diagonal bar.

NE: So something like this looks more flaggy IMO:

Actually, I was playing around with the Blazonry Server, and I came up with basically that same design.

The symbolism is pretty shallow, I'd have to say, not to mention that I don't understand the circle's symbolism.

I'll probably come up with a better design at some point, but this was all I could think of as I was designing it.

Looks like a nation of golf players to me.

Yeah, I can't really draw hoes very well.

[WeepingElf]

Here's the flag of the Republic of Macaronesia, a country in a neglected alternative timeline. It's not very original, but at least it uses purple, a colour seriously underused in flags. The colours represent the three ethnic groups of Macaronesia: the Alvos (Elves), Brancos (Portuguese), and the Criolos (European/African mongrels, the African side mostly from escaped slaves who found sanctuary in Macaronesia).

[Herr Dunkel]

Here's the flag of the Republic of Macaronesia, a country in a neglected alternative timeline. It's not very original, but at least it uses purple, a colour seriously underused in flags. The colours represent the three ethnic groups of Macaronesia: the Alvos (Elves), Brancos (Portuguese), and the Criolos (European/African mongrels, the African side mostly from escaped slaves who found sanctuary in Macaronesia).

Looks French... Maybe you could make it top-to-bottom instead - that kind of flags are seriously nice (you might want to get that blue a bit darker or something, since my eyes barely distinguish them, too)

Otherwise, nice job

[WeepingElf]

Here's the flag of the Republic of Macaronesia, a country in a neglected alternative timeline. It's not very original, but at least it uses purple, a colour seriously underused in flags. The colours represent the three ethnic groups of Macaronesia: the Alvos (Elves), Brancos (Portuguese), and the Criolos (European/African mongrels, the African side mostly from escaped slaves who found sanctuary in Macaronesia).

Looks French... Maybe you could make it top-to-bottom instead - that kind of flags are seriously nice (you might want to get that blue a bit darker or something, since my eyes barely distinguish them, too)

Otherwise, nice job

I know that the flag is not the best ever designed - but horizontal stripes are a no-no when the colours represent ethnic groups: it would insinuate that whose colour is top ruled over the other ethnic groups. But Macaronesia is a democracy and all people have equal rights, so the stripes must be vertical.

And the name of the country has nothing to do with maccaroni - Macaronesia, from the Greek for "Blessed Islands", is a little-used term for the islands (Azores, Madeira, Canary, Cape Verde) where the nation is located.

[Herr Dunkel]

I know that the flag is not the best ever designed - but horizontal stripes are a no-no when the colours represent ethnic groups: it would insinuate that whose colour is top ruled over the other ethnic groups. But Macaronesia is a democracy and all people have equal rights, so the stripes must be vertical.

And the name of the country has nothing to do with maccaroni - Macaronesia is a little-used term for the islands (Azores, Madeira, Canary, Cape Verde) where the nation is located.

Well, I'm no expert on flag rhetoric, and, I didn't even know about the Macarone islands

[clawgrip]

I'm seeing a lot of nice flags here, but if I can make one comment, it seems that they are all extremely conservative and conform as much as possible to modern vexillology as we know it. Has anyone decided to get a little creative, with con-cultures that don't use the standard rectangle, or have different rules as to what elements are placed on them and why? Like, for example, the Nepalese flag (what is going on with this thing?), or feudal Japanese nobori which had simple colours and just some words or a crest to identify soldiers on the battlefield, or the Roman aquila which didn't even necessarily have a cloth flag on it. Admittedly, I haven't come up with anything like this myself, so I'm not really one to talk, but I'd be interested to see if anyone has anything like that.

[Izambri]

Rectangular flags are common for standardization reasons and because are easy to make and reproduce. In Hellea there's nothing resembling the Nepalese flag, because all flags are rectangular. Vertical flags also exist (as counterparts of the horizontal ones), and vexilloids too (gonfalons, banners, vexilla, pennons, etc.).

One of the few things that is not based on any real (=Earth) culture is the flamade faldatze "bearded flag". Flamades faldatzes are typical of Hellea and other Megadelanean nations, and consists of a regular, standard flag with an additional clannish standard tied to the fly (the edge of a flag farthest away from the flagpole). Hellesan clannish standards have plaited designs, like the one depicted below.

Flag of Hellea


Bearded flag of Hellea

[sirred]

Flag of Hellea


Bearded flag of Hellea

This really looks like it was made in paint, especially the bearded part. I think the coloration has something to do with it. Also, I hope for your conpeople's sake that they don't have a tradition of white flag=surrender.

[Jipí]

It looks like he copied the design (without the beard) from the flag of Crimea, except with light and dark blue stripes.

[clawgrip]

This really looks like it was made in paint, especially the bearded part. I think the coloration has something to do with it. Also, I hope for your conpeople's sake that they don't have a tradition of white flag=surrender.

I'm pretty sure the reason it looks fake to you is because the cyan is slightly into the fluorescent range. We didn't have fluorescent pigments for most of our history, so flags don't tend to have any fluorescent colours either.

[Izambri]

Flag of Hellea


Bearded flag of Hellea

This really looks like it was made in paint, especially the bearded part. I think the coloration has something to do with it. Also, I hope for your conpeople's sake that they don't have a tradition of white flag=surrender.

It was made with Paint.NET, which is an open source and better version of MS Paint.
And no, white is not a surrender color in the Hellesan culture; in fact I'm not sure if the concept of surrender is related to any color... The white represents Hellea, which is placed between the sea (dark blue) and the skies (light blue). It's a modern interpretation (one of a few), though, since those colors appear in older Hellesan flags.

About the coloration, I don't see any fluorescence in the light blue in the image above, but that has to do with the brightness of every screen and how we perceive colors. In printed versions both blues look OK to me.
Anyway that light blue (which is RGB 0, 191, 255) is the standard tincture for sky blue in my conculture's heraldic rules.

[Jar Jar Binks]

Since this thread was revived from the dead thanks to the magic of Thread Necromancy­ (TM), I would like to take advantage of this re-animation and offer the following flags of the regions/provinces/cantons of the Telemor Federation:
http://i40.tinypic.com/20p1o2r.jpg

1. your flags are amazing
2. but you shouldn't have saved them as .jpgs because anything that isn't a photograph or a painting will look like shit when saved as a jpg. for flags, you should use png, or, if you are a homosexual, bmp. this has been a public service announcement from the international "are you fucking blind" association, inc.

[Purple Wyrm]

(Slight thread necromancy here, hope it don't qualify me for no stake burning...)

For your delectation, a selection of Zurvár flags...


(Stored on Flikr, hence the jpg format. The originals are - of course - svg)

Traditional Zurvár flags are small triangular or swallowtail pennants (rášár) decorated with coloured stripes indicating the house allegiance of the bearer. After the settlement of Zurvár Arèáná led to more contact with Earth, rectangular flags have become popular, mostly because of the greater scope they provide for artistry. Whether this is a good thing or bad thing depends on the talent of the flag designer and maker.

Each of the Eight Cities has adopted a rectangular flag. Pennant versions of these are still popular and can often be found on the prow of boats or waved by children on days of special celebration.

First Row

Flag of Gorat Balzad Zurvárurn (Bal): Bal is the de-facto capital of Zurvár Arèáná and home of the de-facto government, the Konsâtèum. The flag colours are those of the Konsâtèum, and the organisation's crest appears on the upper hoist. The lower fly features a silhouette of the Oliská Konsâtèum, the tallest building on Zurvár Arèáná and headquarters of the Konsâtèum.

Flag of Gorat Karaþ Dárgurn (Karaþ): A simple flag displaying the Takal - the traditional symbol of the Zurvár people.

Flag of Gorat Mìam Doráþû (Mìam): Also features the Takal above an eight arched bridge representing the eight major bridges that link the islands of the city.

Flag of the Mon Dolfin of Zurvár Arèáná: This flag is used to represent the mon Dolfin, the cetacean inhabitants of Zurvár Arèáná. It was created by the Konsâtèum for official purposes, and is cheerfully tolerated by the cetaceans, who really don't care whether they have a flag or not.

Second Row

Unoffical flag of Gorat Balzad Zurvárurn (Bal): Among the Zurvár opinion on the power of the Konsâtèum is mixed (a situation no doubt exacerbated by the fact that so many towns are still paying off settlement loans). Inhabitants of Bal strongly opposed to the Konsâtèum typically refuse to fly the official flag and manufacture their own variations, of which this is a typical example. The crest is replaced with a generic Zurvár one, and the Takal replaces the Oliská Konsâtèum on the fly.

Flag of Gorat mon Dìad Mantábon (Dì): The tree represents the pine groves the city is named for. The yellow field is said to represent hope for the future, although it's unclear if this was intended when the flag was first designed.

Flag of Gorat Bármárgiv (Márgiv): The anchor represents the city's harbours, while the blue stripes represent the famous blue lake.

Flag of Gorat Mantábon Dìaz (Dìaz): The flag of Dìaz is often regarded as the most hideous of the city flags. Dìaz was founded after a schism among the settlers of Dì and displays the Dì flag in the canton to represent this origin. The crescent and star represent a close conjunction of Emer Arèáná (the moon) and Mirandá (Venus) on the evening of the city's founding.

Third Row

Flag of Gorat Sûlbarn Hì (Hì): Hì is regarded as the second city of the Konsâtèum and displays its colours on its flag. The city's nickname is written across the flag, and a tranázár figure was added to the fly after the city was attacked by the creatures in 1975.

Flag of Gorat Bárkalif Ganalû (Kalif): The Kalif flag displays a stylised version of the city's famous suspension bridge, the Kûbrik mon Rapat (Bridge of Swords), with a wind turbine superimposed on top. The largest city on Zurvár Arèáná, Kalif obtains most of its power from the wind.

[Kezdő]

It's okay, though a lot of the colors are extremely unappealing. And the Kalif guys put a bridge and a wind turbine on their flag? Isn't that kinda like if Croatia put mechanical pencils and neckties on their flag?

[Purple Wyrm]

I quite like most of the colour combos I've used (hence my using them), but I'd be interested to hear which ones you particularly dislike.

And the Kalif guys put a bridge and a wind turbine on their flag? Isn't that kinda like if Croatia put mechanical pencils and neckties on their flag?

If the flag was a national one I'd agree with you, but it's a city flag and shows the two most famed things about the city - their bloody great bridge and their obsession with wind power. Sort of as if London had a flag showing Big Ben and a red phonebox.

[Kezdő]

I quite like most of the colour combos I've used (hence my using them), but I'd be interested to hear which ones you particularly dislike.

And the Kalif guys put a bridge and a wind turbine on their flag? Isn't that kinda like if Croatia put mechanical pencils and neckties on their flag?

If the flag was a national one I'd agree with you, but it's a city flag and shows the two most famed things about the city - their bloody great bridge and their obsession with wind power. Sort of as if London had a flag showing Big Ben and a red phonebox.

Heh, the phonebox actually doesn't sound too bad. I guess you're kinda right about the city thing.

While I sort of like blue-cyan, I find that the specific shade of cyan you used in the ones on the left doesn't look too good - a bit dull and drab, and it doesn't clash well with the vibrant blue and red. Also, the yellow-on-green knot/cross/thing looks good, but the green-on-yellow tree doesn't. I guess an inverse EU flag would look worse than the normal one. Red-on-yellow works fine, though, as New Mexicans can attest. I don't think grey looks good on any kind of flag, except in a few exceptions. Finally, the colors appear somewhat repetitive when you group all the flags together, kind of like an African Union summit. With Rastafarians.

For positive comments, it was a smart move of you to thinly outline the anchor. I think it looks quite nice.

[Astraios]

Red phoneboxes aren't Londony, they're the whole country.

[Kezdő]

Red phoneboxes aren't Londony, they're the whole country.

And blue boxes are the whole of the space-time continuum!

[Astraios]

I disapprove.

[Purple Wyrm]

While I sort of like blue-cyan, I find that the specific shade of cyan you used in the ones on the left doesn't look too good - a bit dull and drab, and it doesn't clash well with the vibrant blue and red. Also, the yellow-on-green knot/cross/thing looks good, but the green-on-yellow tree doesn't. I guess an inverse EU flag would look worse than the normal one. Red-on-yellow works fine, though, as New Mexicans can attest. I don't think grey looks good on any kind of flag, except in a few exceptions. Finally, the colors appear somewhat repetitive when you group all the flags together, kind of like an African Union summit. With Rastafarians.

Thanks for the feedback. The lighter blue-cyan on the left hand flags is meant to be a pale sky-blue, which looks good with the other colours to me. Of course my monitor calibration may be screwed up. Or it could simply be a matter of differences in our personal aesthetics, which is cool.

I agree on the tree flag not looking great in those colours, but in-world its supposed to have been made by a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs with no idea what they were doing. If the impression it gives is "nice design, but..." then I've actually achieved my aim with it (and for the record the design is cribbed from Norfolk Island).

The grey can be considered to be silver if that makes a difference

As for the repetitive colours, that's intentional as (in-world) a chunk of them inherit their coloration from the same source, those used by the Konsâtèum.

Red phoneboxes aren't Londony, they're the whole country.

Sssh! Don't tell the tourists that!!