Weekly Flag Challenge: Discussion & Entries

I still fail to see the purpose of that with the forum's auto-sizing. All it accomplishes is fuzzier image quality.
I understand but would counter with the fact that flags that fuzz out at a distance kinda fail part of the job description for flags ;).
Whilst my current phone autosizes I did notice today on a desktop disparity between those at c800 and those at c1200px hence why I mentioned it.
The aim is to enable all entries to be judged equally and having them equal height helps. With the rise in tech I can see an argument for a later allowance to increase the size.
 
I understand but would counter with the fact that flags that fuzz out at a distance kinda fail part of the job description for flags ;).
Whilst my current phone autosizes I did notice today on a desktop disparity between those at c800 and those at c1200px hence why I mentioned it.
The aim is to enable all entries to be judged equally and having them equal height helps. With the rise in tech I can see an argument for a later allowance to increase the size.

I get it. I guess only gripe because I already sized down my flag and the symbol in the corner got pretty pixelated. The hilt on the sword used to look so smooth...
 
I get it. I guess only gripe because I already sized down my flag and the symbol in the corner got pretty pixelated. The hilt on the sword used to look so smooth...
Ach, understandable. I guess because I start work on a 800x1600 basis and scale down 50% it affects me less than those working at higher sizes :confused:
 
The 400x800 rule is by now an artifact borne of older forum software. I think now we should allow whatever size that is needed to make the flag look its best. Downsizing will make certain flags seem worse, and that's not really making it fair. Besides, in real life flags come in all different types of aspect ratios. I'd like to see allowed more experimentation with flag aspect ratio than just the boring old 1:2.

Maybe it was a good rule once but I certainly don't see the point of it now. Just use whatever size you need to make your flag look good at first glance. I think it will be obvious if someone is cheating by having massive resolutions. We should allow whatever size seems reasonable in context.
 
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Besides, in real life flags come in all different types of aspect ratios. I'd like to see allowed more experimentation with flag aspect ratio than just the boring old 1:2.

The size limit doesn't prevent alternative aspect ratios from being entered. Flags must fit within a 400px by 800px rectangle, they don't necessarily have to be exactly 400px by 800px.

Because of the level of discussion around this question, I have created a poll that will determine the future of this rule.
 
The size limit doesn't prevent alternative aspect ratios from being entered. Flags must fit within a 400px by 800px rectangle, they don't necessarily have to be exactly 400px by 800px.

There's no sense to that either because flags of a different aspect ratio will end up smaller than ideal by trying to fit them within an already small rectangle, which will mess with the details and whatnot. Instead just allow any flag size that's within reasonable constraints, like no side is larger than 1000px or something.

Not all flags IRL were meant to be legible from a distance, and there are several flags that'll look absolutely terrible in so small a size! So in light of newer forum software and such, I say just allow an extension of 200px. Nothing too crazy.
 
There's no sense to that either because flags of a different aspect ratio will end up smaller than ideal by trying to fit them within an already small rectangle, which will mess with the details and whatnot. Instead just allow any flag size that's within reasonable constraints, like no side is larger than 1000px or something.

Not all flags IRL were meant to be legible from a distance, and there are several flags that'll look absolutely terrible in so small a size! So in light of newer forum software and such, I say just allow an extension of 200px. Nothing too crazy.
That what the 400x800 is: no larger than 800 in 1 dimension, and 400 the other.
 
Oh no, I missed the deadline! Oh well, anyway:

America Together!

Nice.png


Good morning, everyone - it's another beautiful day in America Together! Isn't it absolutely wonderful? No one in the whole wide world is happier than you - just for being in America Together! Not even George Washington could have seen how magical America Together! would be when he cut down the cherry tree to build our very first School! Today every child in America Together! receives free education and care, so mom and dad back home don't need to worry. It's raising all the children of America Together! in a healthful, happy, caring School until they're all grown up that makes them just so dang swell! Remember, every one of you is special in their very own way! And don't forget to tell your teacher if you hear any bullies being mean or telling lies about America Together! She'll make sure they go to detention for a long, long time! America Together - MAKE IT A GREAT DAY!
 
Oh no, I missed the deadline! Oh well, anyway:

America Together!

View attachment 344629

Good morning, everyone - it's another beautiful day in America Together! Isn't it absolutely wonderful? No one in the whole wide world is happier than you - just for being in America Together! Not even George Washington could have seen how magical America Together! would be when he cut down the cherry tree to build our very first School! Today every child in America Together! receives free education and care, so mom and dad back home don't need to worry. It's raising all the children of America Together! in a healthful, happy, caring School until they're all grown up that makes them just so dang swell! Remember, every one of you is special in their very own way! And don't forget to tell your teacher if you hear any bullies being mean or telling lies about America Together! She'll make sure they go to detention for a long, long time! America Together - MAKE IT A GREAT DAY!

Sounds like an American version of We Happy Few. :eek:
 
Because of the level of discussion around this question, I have created a poll that will determine the future of this rule.

The winning option was option #2, "No, keep a size limit but increase it to a larger size". The following proposals for a larger size came up:
  • 450px by 900px
  • 500px by 1000px
  • 600px by 1200px
  • 900px by 900px
  • 1000px by 1000px
Any more thoughts?

My question is, to all who have won the Weekly Flag Challenge recently, what size did you originally make your entry before having to downscale? If it was a vector graphic, what size did you originally display it at?
 
As regards size before scaling I traditionally make my original at twice the dimensions of whatever upper limit there is.

Other limit options:
  • 3:5 aspect limit - 450x750, 600x1000, 750x1250.
  • Areal and length limit, e.g 500,000 sq px but longest side no more than 1000px.
  • Half circumference, e.g length + height = 1500px, longest side no more than 1000px.
 
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Oh no, I missed the deadline! Oh well, anyway

Too bad you missed the deadline, I would have voted for this. :D Happy-clappy-wide-smiles-or-else totalitarians tend to scare me a lot more than those who try to be transparent about their attempts at being a bargain bin edition of Mordor. :eek:
 
Other limit options:
  • 3:5 aspect limit - 450x750, 600x1000, 750x1250.
  • Areal and length limit, e.g 50000 sq px but longest side no more than 1000px.
  • Half circumference, e.g length + height = 1500px, longest side no more than 1000px.

I think that 1:2 is the longest ratio that we would typically encounter so I used that for the limit. So far we've been fine with using a maximum bounding rectangle because it's simple to understand. Defining the limit by area has some advantages but some may find it cumbersome to whip out a calculator to check if their entry fits and make adjustments if needed. Defining by perimeter length has intrinsic problems that are mathematical in nature.

There are three mutually exclusive ways we can make entries of different ratios "comparable": equal-height (the current approach), equal-width (which is what a 1000px by 1000px limit would do) or equal area.
 

Krall

Banned
The winning option was option #2, "No, keep a size limit but increase it to a larger size". The following proposals for a larger size came up:
  • 450px by 900px
  • 500px by 1000px
  • 600px by 1200px
  • 900px by 900px
  • 1000px by 1000px
Any more thoughts?

My question is, to all who have won the Weekly Flag Challenge recently, what size did you originally make your entry before having to downscale? If it was a vector graphic, what size did you originally display it at?

I'm not sure it counts as "recent", but when I won a round a while back the original display size of my flag was 561 x 847. I think a 1:2 ratio for the limit is a good idea, since that is generally the longest flag ratio we're going to encounter, so given the original size of my entry 600 x 1200 seems reasonable. It's large enough to get some fine detail in there, but also small enough that it won't stretch off the side of anyone's screen.
 
The working size of my flags has usually been something around 1000 px for whichever side is the longest. The aspect ratio determines the other side.

I voted against increasing the size. If a follow-up vote is held, I will vote for a smallest possible increase. I think the working size should necessarily be larger than the final one and I would rather not work with 2000px monstrosities.

I would suggest not to go overboard with the specifications. Depending on the aspect ratio, my flags have sometimes been like 800 by 412 or something similar. No one has complained or even noticed.
 
New challenge!
Flag Challenge 174: Not a Single Lion
The present English Banner of Arms derives from the Arms of King John who used 2 lions passant (and usually regardant) when ruling Normandy for his brother Richard. Richard added a third lion apparently to represent his 3 realms of England, Normandy-Anjou, and Aquitaine.
Your challenge is to come up with a justifiable Banner of Arms for England (or State including it) that bears not a single lion in any heraldic aspect.

NB Due to the detail flags can be as big as 600x1200px.
"England" refers to any post Heptarchy state roughly corresponding to most of modern day England and named England.

Submissions Open: Now
Submissions Closed: End 2nd October
Voting Period: from 3rd October
Any queries?
While we were discussing flag sizes it was mentioned that a larger size was easier when adding anything armorial to flags so I've upped my challenge limit by 50%.
 
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Krall

Banned
New challenge!

Any queries?
While we were discussing flag sizes it was mentioned that a larger size was easier when adding anything armorial to flags so I've upped my challenge limit by 50%.
Is England defined geographically, so a Romano-Celtic Briton/"England"- for example - would qualify? Or does it have to be a state derived from the Kingdom of England of OTL?
 
Is England defined geographically, so a Romano-Celtic Briton/"England"- for example - would qualify? Or does it have to be a state derived from the Kingdom of England of OTL?
Good point.
I would say descendant from the Heptarchy period, so Angle and Saxon base but allowing for Norse/Norman/other invasions, conquests, and succession.
 
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