^You should've waited for me to mention you
I’m sorry, mate.
Weekly Flag Challenge: New Challenges & Previous Winners
- Thread starter Transparent Blue
- Start date
I’m sorry, mate.
The winner is, apparently, @Marc Pasquin and his flags for Western Australia and Tasmania.
The voting process is here.
You may now proceed to post your new challenge.
The voting process is here.
You may now proceed to post your new challenge.
New Australian state flags. currently, all of our states use british blue ensigns defaced with the state badge. I still wanted them to keep an air of togetherness so I imagined them all to have a 1/3 vertical band near the hoist containing the southern cross like the territories and the remain 2/3 occupied by their badge or a simplified version of the states' COA.
Western Australia:
Tasmania:
Flag Challenge 193: Apocalypse Won, or Not Quite the End of the World
"And lo, did Armageddon come forth.
The Gates of Heaven & Hell were opened and the Unearthly plagued the world once more.
Armies of Angels and Demons rode out against the Children of Man...and lost"
It has been centuries since the apocalypse and, whilst nations have fallen, humanity has survived by coopting the supernatural.
Your challenge is to design a flag and brief history for one of the new mythos-learnèd polities that descends from an OTL region.
This region can be from any era of our recognisable history up to the present day.
The apocalypse is open to your interpretation from the return of magic and myth to alien invasion to the gates of heaven/hell opening so long as it appears supernatural.
Submissions Open: Now
Submissions Close: 23:59 GMT 5th August 2018
Voting Opens: 6th August
Voting Closes: 13th August
"And lo, did Armageddon come forth.
The Gates of Heaven & Hell were opened and the Unearthly plagued the world once more.
Armies of Angels and Demons rode out against the Children of Man...and lost"
It has been centuries since the apocalypse and, whilst nations have fallen, humanity has survived by coopting the supernatural.
Your challenge is to design a flag and brief history for one of the new mythos-learnèd polities that descends from an OTL region.
This region can be from any era of our recognisable history up to the present day.
The apocalypse is open to your interpretation from the return of magic and myth to alien invasion to the gates of heaven/hell opening so long as it appears supernatural.
Submissions Open: Now
Submissions Close: 23:59 GMT 5th August 2018
Voting Opens: 6th August
Voting Closes: 13th August
Flag Challenge 194: From the east, the settlers came
And so the age of exploration came to pass, the emperors of Japan, China, Korea and other looked west for new lands to settles and for wealth as yet undiscovered. Many colonies were created in the following centuries on the continent known by the natives as "europe".
Your challenge then is to share with us 2 flags: the flag of one of these asian colonies in europe as well as the personnal flag used by the local representative of his majesty.
Pretty much any historical polities from the indian sub-continent or south-east asia is acceptable although countries such as the Kingdom of Sarawak would go against the spirit of the challenge for obvious reasons.
Submissions Open: Now
Submissions Close: 23:59 AEST 20 August 2018
Voting Opens: 21th August
Voting Closes: 27th August
And so the age of exploration came to pass, the emperors of Japan, China, Korea and other looked west for new lands to settles and for wealth as yet undiscovered. Many colonies were created in the following centuries on the continent known by the natives as "europe".
Your challenge then is to share with us 2 flags: the flag of one of these asian colonies in europe as well as the personnal flag used by the local representative of his majesty.
Pretty much any historical polities from the indian sub-continent or south-east asia is acceptable although countries such as the Kingdom of Sarawak would go against the spirit of the challenge for obvious reasons.
Submissions Open: Now
Submissions Close: 23:59 AEST 20 August 2018
Voting Opens: 21th August
Voting Closes: 27th August
The winner of Flag Challenge 194 is @The Professor !
Here we go (a lot of liberties have been taken with language so apologies for any offence to Korean or Japanese members!):
Jeigyon has its founding in the union of the Kingdoms of Bäkje and Kyôšô during the 40 Generations [1]. The two had constantly been allies against domination by the 2nd Zhou and lately the northern successors to the Yamoto Empire that had ruled over both kingdoms in 30 Generations. A failed invasion by the Minamoto King led to the Kyôšô clans binding themselves under the Bäkje King, Onjei, who established the himself as a Qin style Emperor at Busanši [2].
Initially dominated by the Bäkje court control shifted to the Kyôšô nobles when the Zhou backed a Sillan invasion forcing the imperial court to flee to Gyôši [3]. The fall of the 2nd Zhou enabled expansion back onto the Sillan peninsula, and eastward on Honšu.
Jeigyon was able to dominate maritime trade in the rising 3rd Zhou Dynasty and contact with Europe rapidly expanded the empire through control and colonisation of the states there.
One such state is the Governate of Khorongwoh divided into Bogwoh Khoronwa and Nängwoh Khoronwa across the Ying Strait [4]. The current Jhangwang [5] of House Moljhê is allowed to bear the local title of Errô [6] and quarter his banner with that of the Empire.
The Banner of Khorongwoh features 2 dragons representing the northern and southern halves. The Banner of Errô Riyu-jin [7] shows his House emblem in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, the colours being of the Governate.
[1] 7th Century CE, Time being counted in generations of 30 years since Confucius
[2] Pusan
[3] near OTL Nagasaki
[4] The Channel
[5] Lord/Prince General or Governor
[6] El (Earl) + :ô (honorific)
[7] alternatively Liyu, r and l being allophones in Jeigyonese, the r quality being more apparent intervocally
Flag Challenge 195: Almost 14 Square
Your challenge is to create a square flag that represents not quite 14 entities. These can be provinces, national gods, members of an international agency, etc.
Come up with a reason why it's not 14, perhaps it once was, maybe an expected 14th dropped out, anything goes.
Edit: extended time.
Submissions Open: now
Submissions Close: 23:59 GMT Friday 14th September 2018
Voting Opens: 15th September ish
Voting Closes: 22th September ish
Your challenge is to create a square flag that represents not quite 14 entities. These can be provinces, national gods, members of an international agency, etc.
Come up with a reason why it's not 14, perhaps it once was, maybe an expected 14th dropped out, anything goes.
Edit: extended time.
Submissions Open: now
Submissions Close: 23:59 GMT Friday 14th September 2018
Voting Opens: 15th September ish
Voting Closes: 22th September ish
Last edited:
Redo since we only had one entry within the maximum 2 weeks.
Flag Challenge 195: Repetition
Create a flag with a nonsimple pattern or repeated motif and explain its symbolism.
Submissions Open: now
Submissions Close: 23:59 GMT Saturday 22nd September
Voting Opens: Sunday 23rd September ish
Voting Closes: Saturday 30th September ish
Flag Challenge 195: Repetition
Create a flag with a nonsimple pattern or repeated motif and explain its symbolism.
Submissions Open: now
Submissions Close: 23:59 GMT Saturday 22nd September
Voting Opens: Sunday 23rd September ish
Voting Closes: Saturday 30th September ish
Flag Challenge 196: Buy two get one free
Create a flag for a nation which is united with another nation, then later with a third. The nations, and original flags, should be OTL but the reason(s) for the unions and thus changes to the flags can be as ASB as you want, and feel free to mix up different historical periods – if you want to show a union of the USA with the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies with North Korea, go wild!
The entry should show the original flags, the interim union flag and the final union flag.
For reference, one OTL example is the evolution of the United Kingdom’s Union Flag with the union of Scotland and England later expanded by union with Ireland.
Submissions Open: now
Submissions Close: 10th October 2018 at 19:00 GMT (20:00 UK Summer time, 21:00 EU Summer time, 15:00 USA Eastern Daylight time, 12:00 USA Pacific Daylight time)
Voting Opens: After submissions close on 10th October 2018 – maybe 11th if I’m busy
Voting Closes: 4 days later
A reminder of the rule on flag sizes: For each image in a multiple-flag entry, the shortest side must be 400 pixels or less, and the longest side must be 600 pixels or less.
Edited to fix link.
Create a flag for a nation which is united with another nation, then later with a third. The nations, and original flags, should be OTL but the reason(s) for the unions and thus changes to the flags can be as ASB as you want, and feel free to mix up different historical periods – if you want to show a union of the USA with the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies with North Korea, go wild!
The entry should show the original flags, the interim union flag and the final union flag.
For reference, one OTL example is the evolution of the United Kingdom’s Union Flag with the union of Scotland and England later expanded by union with Ireland.
Submissions Open: now
Submissions Close: 10th October 2018 at 19:00 GMT (20:00 UK Summer time, 21:00 EU Summer time, 15:00 USA Eastern Daylight time, 12:00 USA Pacific Daylight time)
Voting Opens: After submissions close on 10th October 2018 – maybe 11th if I’m busy
Voting Closes: 4 days later
A reminder of the rule on flag sizes: For each image in a multiple-flag entry, the shortest side must be 400 pixels or less, and the longest side must be 600 pixels or less.
Edited to fix link.
Last edited:
And the winner of the 196th Flag Challenge is ... drum roll ... @Sovereign12 - congratulations!
Also well done to the @The Professor and @Green Painting - only 2 points separated the three entries in the end.
Also well done to the @The Professor and @Green Painting - only 2 points separated the three entries in the end.
Pacific Alliance Nations (P.A.N.)
In 1983, the Soviet Union’s Early Warning System, Oko, detected multiple inbound US nuclear missiles. On duty was Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov, whom at midnight was there to see the Oko system detect four inbound missiles. Knowing of previous malfunctions with the system, Petrov at first thought the information a computer error, but within ten minutes the system detected sixteen missiles on course for the Soviet Union. Petrov followed protocol and alerted his superiors, whom for years, held the opinion that the US was going to strike at any time. The Soviet’s policy at this time was immediate and compulsory reprisal. The US and their allies struck back with nuclear and conventional forces.
The war lasted six days.
During the war, a faulty Soviet missile, intended for Seoul, Korea went way off course and hit the city of Dandong in the Liaoning province of China. The US suddenly had an unexpected ally. The Soviet Union would counter strike against China for fear of their communist brothers pouring over the border and invading.
North America and Eurasia were devastated by the nuclear impacts, but most damage was done by the radiation, nuclear fallout, and firestorms. With infrastructure gone, cities and forests burned, throwing up additional ash and pollutants into the atmosphere. The USSR, believing the vast forests and steppe that separated their cities and towns would save much of their population, did not expect the firestorms that would rage throughout their forests. World temperatures began to fall by 10°F. Where the soil was not contaminated, North America and Eurasia had extended winters and extremely shortened growing seasons.
One of the nations in the northern hemisphere to survive with minimal destruction was Japan. While four Soviet strikes targeted the nation, much of the government and infrastructure was intact. Over the next few years many people would die due to starvation and disease, but the nation as a whole would survive. Food production was paramount and the surviving fishing industry was nationalized.
The same could be said for the Pacific nation of Kiribati. With so many ports-of-call destroyed many cargo ships and passenger liners would anchor off of various islands in the Pacific. Kiribati would benefit from this. While the cargo ships contained may things the island nation could use, again staving off starvation was the first thing to take care of.
The effects of the nuclear winter would have a profound effect on the world as the polar ice caps took back some of the water it had slowly been losing due to climate change. While never significant, the growth of land area on the islands in the Pacific was noticeable and help maintain the population.
As fishing was very important to the survival for many coastal and island peoples around the world. Japan and Kiribati were both smart in converting any possible sea transport into fishing boats. Kiribati had also turned many of the cargo and passenger ships into floating gardens. To protect these gardens and fishing fleets navies were quickly formed out of the coastal defense ships. Where conflict may have erupted between the two nations, the horrible Six day war had made leaders in both nations more cautious. This eventually led to talks of alliance and eventually unification between the two countries as the Pacific League.
Ten years later the nation of Palau would accept admittance into the alliance. Changing the name to the Pacific Allied Nations (PAN) a constitution would be formally written between the three nations.
Flag Challenge 197: It Comes in all Shapes
Create a flag for a nation which is not in the shape of a rectangular or square.
The flag should be based on a real world object: eg kite, tent, sandals… Whatever you think would be a possibility, and please explain why the flag developed from the object that inspired it.
The nations can be real world or created by you, but should be plausible countries.
No ASB nations.
For a reference, in the Dark Ages of flag contests, before our current set up, I created a flag based on both sails and kites. I also did another based on wind socks (unfortunately cannot find that post). A real world example would be the flag of Nepal.
Submissions Open: now
Submissions Close: 22nd October 2018 at 19:00 GMT (20:00 UK Summer time, 21:00 EU Summer time, 15:00 USA Eastern Daylight time, 12:00 USA Pacific Daylight time)
Voting Opens: 23th October 2018-ish
Voting Closes: 4 days later
Create a flag for a nation which is not in the shape of a rectangular or square.
The flag should be based on a real world object: eg kite, tent, sandals… Whatever you think would be a possibility, and please explain why the flag developed from the object that inspired it.
The nations can be real world or created by you, but should be plausible countries.
No ASB nations.
For a reference, in the Dark Ages of flag contests, before our current set up, I created a flag based on both sails and kites. I also did another based on wind socks (unfortunately cannot find that post). A real world example would be the flag of Nepal.
Submissions Open: now
Submissions Close: 22nd October 2018 at 19:00 GMT (20:00 UK Summer time, 21:00 EU Summer time, 15:00 USA Eastern Daylight time, 12:00 USA Pacific Daylight time)
Voting Opens: 23th October 2018-ish
Voting Closes: 4 days later
Well, this one was a tie between FreindlyGhost and the Professor.
They will present us with the next challenge soon.
They will present us with the next challenge soon.
The Battle-Axe Flag of Ulaid
At the end of the 12th century, it seemed that the kingdom of Ulaid was destined to fade into history. Its territory had been reduced by other Irish kingdoms and the Norman invasion had introduced a group of power-hungry nobles to the island. In 1177 Ulaid was invaded by John de Courcy, in violation of the treaty between the Irish high king, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (Rory O'Connor) and Henry II of England.
De Courcy's surprise attack on Ulaid's capital, Dún De Lethglaise (Downpatrick), initially forced the King of Ulaid, Ruaidrí Mac Duinn Sléibe (Rory MacDonlevy), to flee. The papal legate, Cardinal Vivien, had ordered de Courcy to withdraw, but his command had been ignored. As a result, Ruaidrí was able to call on the support of the church. A week after the surprise attack, he returned with a superior force, accompanied by the Bishop of Down and other clerics from across the province. The ensuing battle lasted all day and looked likely to end in a bloody stalemate when two things happened simultaneously.
As Ruaidrí fought his way through the Norman forces, he met de Courcy and a vicious combat ensued. De Courcy was renowned as one of the most skilled swordsmen in Ireland and at first it seemed that Ruaidrí, armed with a battle-axe, was out-classed, but eventually, despite bleeding from countless wounds, it was Ruaidrí who won the day, his axe splitting de Courcy's head open 'like a cabbage' according to the Annála Uladh (Annals of Ulster).
Whilst this single combat was going on, the main battle continued unabated. A small group of Norman archers had been positioned on the flank and were intermittently firing on the Irish forces. Having been attacked a few times, when they saw movement in a small wood nearby they not surprisingly fired a few arrows into it. Unfortunately for them, the movement was not a group of Irish soldiers but a herd of cattle belonging to the local monastery, including a huge brown bull. An arrow struck this bull which, enraged, charged out of the wood followed by the entire herd. This stampede ran right into, and over, the Norman forces.
The double blow of losing their leader and a stampede of cattle all bearing branded crosses was enough to rout the remaining Normans, leaving Ruaidrí holding the field.
Until this battle Ruaidrí, like most other warlords, had flown simple coloured pennants in battle. Now, however, he decided to adopt a personal standard to symbolise his victory. The standard was shaped like his battle-axe, coloured white to symbolise the purity of his cause supported by the church but with a red border to show the blood of the slain. On the white field was put a brown bull, standing over the heads of three eagles, symbolic of the death of de Courcy. Many within northern Ireland saw parallels in the stampede of the brown bull with the old Irish legend of Donn Cuailnge (the Brown Bull of Cooley), which in time led to conflict between Ulaid and the church, eventually assuaged by the addition of a cross brand being put on the shoulder of the bull, clearly showing that the bovine intervention had been divinely sanctioned, not the working of ancient magics.
Over the next few months and years, the victorious Ruaidrí cemented alliances with other Irish kings and the Lords of the Isles in the west of Scotland and Isle of Mann. Other Norman petty nobles were dissuaded from launching attacks into Irish territory and a sort of peace came to the island. This was shattered a century later when Edward I of England set out to conquer the non-Norman/English held areas, but by then Ulaid's position as one of the premier kingdoms of Ireland was secure.
The axe-shaped battle standard of Ruaidrí was adopted by his heirs and came to be used as the flag of the kingdom itself. It was always flown from a spear (latterly a flag-pole with a spear-head or spike atop) and with red streamers to show the flowing blood.
View attachment 415381
Image(s) created by FriendlyGhost using paint.net. Free for use on this site (alternatehistory.com) as long as you credit me (@ my username is fine). Use on other sites is also permitted as long as you PM me here to let me know.
Some of the constituent parts of this image were amended from images in the public domain, as follows:
(1) Bull adapted from Meuble héraldique Taureau, in the public domain. Recoloured and resized by me.
(2) Eagle heads taken from Blason Beauval-en-Caux by Chatsam on Wikipedia commons, CCA-SA. Recoloured and resized by me.
Edited for size of image and to remove a stray apostrophe (!).
The Jack of the Neapolitan Navy
The Jack, or Port Flag, of the Neapolitan Imperial Navy derives from the naval pennant flown during the Adriatic Wars as Robert of Taranto, III Latin Emperor, II King of Sicily-in-Naples, staked his claim to his aunt Joanna's Neapolitan throne. The pennant is based on his plain arms as heir presumptive - Azure, semé-de-lys Or, a chief embattled Gules bearing a cross potent encircled between four crosslets Or which he simplified down from tierced per pale 1 Gules, a cross between four crosses encircled between four crosslets Or; 2 Argent a cross potent between 4 crosslets Or; 3 Azure, semé-de-lys Or, a label Gules - compare the current flag of the Neapolitan Empire with its golden encircled crosses over a red-white-blue tricolore. The unusual edging comes from the legend where the flag ship at harbour was stormed by Venetians and with flag aflame the crew defeated them turning the tide of battle, thereafter each victory was bore this tattered and charred flag. The exact battle varies but most historians agree it was probably the Battle of Arta.
Challenge 198 Flagbert of Elbonia
Design a flag used in Elbonia, the country featured in the Dilbert cartoon.
(http://dilbert.wikia.com/wiki/Elbonia)
This can be any flag: national flag, military ensigns, major company flags, government organisations, personal flag of the head-of-state, whatever.
Submissions Open: Now
Submissions Close: 23.69 GMT 5th November 2018
Poll Opens: 12 November ish
Poll Closes: 19 November ish
Design a flag used in Elbonia, the country featured in the Dilbert cartoon.
(http://dilbert.wikia.com/wiki/Elbonia)
This can be any flag: national flag, military ensigns, major company flags, government organisations, personal flag of the head-of-state, whatever.
Submissions Open: Now
Submissions Close: 23.69 GMT 5th November 2018
Poll Opens: 12 November ish
Poll Closes: 19 November ish
