Weekly Flag Challenge: Discussion & Entries

Flag of the Republic of Mexico (1819).png

Flag of the First Republic of Mexico, founded in 1819. Also used by the United Mexican States (4th Republic).
A combination of Miguel Hidalgo's banner from 1810 and the tricolor of the Mexican Naval Insurgents from 1815.
Used by the First Mexican Republic until the military coup by Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna in early 1830s. Santa Anna would establish the short lived 1st Mexican Empire with him as its emperor. With its flag being The eagle on cactus emblem on white with a light blue border. This state was followed by the Federal Republic of Mexico (2nd Republic) which moved the depiction of Virgin Mary to the upper half of the white stripe, the other half of the stripe being covered by golden sunbursts representing each state. That republic was followed the Centrist Republic of Mexico (3rd Republic) which used the simple white-blue-red tricolor. Centrist Republic was deposed by the Second Mexican Empire (or the Napoleonic Mexico) in 1860s which had a blue-white-red flag with a crowned eagle on cactus with snake, colored gold [think the eagles on the corners of the 2nd Mexican Empire flag OTL], on the white stripe. This empire was overthrown in 1910 by the Mexican Revolution which established the United Mexican States or the 4th Republic. This republic would readopt the flag of the First Republic.
These colors were viewed as representing Religion, Liberty and Independence in the 1st Republic.
While in the 4th Republic the official symbolism is Unity, Republicanism and Independence.
 
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A rather quick one:

The flag of the Republic of Mexico was influenced by the banners of the Jose Maria Morelos and Vicente Guerrero who served as Augustin de Iturbide's Vice-Presidents in the so called Triumvirate Period.
It consists of a checkered blue and white field, traditionally 5x9, surmounted by a white disc and red border.
The Civil Flag bears on the disc a gold star over 2 green ones representing a stylised cactus the emblem of Mexico.
The State Flag bears the State seal instead.
The ensigns also add a red border.
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LOL - you guys.
I have to say, I have been holding onto this challenge since I first started participating in the flag contests here. Even though there are only two entries, I like them both, for different reasons. I was so glad to win and get a chance to put this challenge up. Thanks to those who participated!
 
I would like to know what those reasons are. Maybe after the voting has concluded.
I like your flag for being a continuation of an existing flag design. I hoped to see one like it in the entries. In general, the use of pictures on flags bothers me, but this is a historical banner, so I get it.

I like the Professor's take on the cactus star. Putting on a checkered background is bold. The colors are a distinct departure from the way the flag went in OTL.

Like I said, both flags are beautiful. I love me some flags.

:D
 
To check the former challenges do I have to scroll through 30 pages or is there a list?

Otherwise I do have 2 ideas.
Flag of an LoN/UN style International/Supranational organisation (might make it more open by allowing NATO/WarPac/EU/ASEAN style organisations as well).
Flag/Ensign/Jack of a Navy (might change the challenge to military flags in general).
Maybe something relating to China.
Edit: Or maybe something Sci-fi.

I would like to see opinions and challenge suggestions.
 
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To check the former challenges do I have to scroll through 30 pages or is there a list?
There's a link on page1 to the Wiki Summary that our honourable archivist Petike updates.
It's essentially a table of all the challenges and the winners.

The organisation one has been done before I think (most have by now tbh!) but could be good having another go at it.
 
I've checked the former challenges.

I am currently undecided between these options:
1. Create the flag of an ATL organisation that is the equivalent of the League of Nations and the United Nations. POD should be before the end of WW1.
2. Create a flag for either an Unified Solar System or an Intergovernmental Organization with members on different planets in a solar system.
 
I've checked the former challenges.

I am currently undecided between these options:
1. Create the flag of an ATL organisation that is the equivalent of the League of Nations and the United Nations. POD should be before the end of WW1.
2. Create a flag for either an Unified Solar System or an Intergovernmental Organization with members on different planets in a solar system.
They both seem like good challenges. If you can't decide, just toss a coin...
 
FLAG CHALLENGE #230: The International Community

Create the flag of an ATL organisation that is the equivalent of the League of Nations and/or the United Nations. POD should be before the end of WW1.

Submissions Open: Now
Submissions Close: Monday, August 24, 2020 at 23:35 GMT +3

Here it is.
 
League For Peace.jpg

"From the mud of the Great War came the the greatest force for peace."

The Great War lasted less than two years. but its horrors would inspire an entire generation. The first Christmas Truce of 1914 brought a temporary pause to the needless bloodshed between the forces of the Central Powers and the Allies. High command ordered that if any soldier repated what had happened, they would be tried for treason.

But when the snow began to fall in 1915, most soldiers simply disregarded it. From the trenches, across no man's land, the two armies sang hymns once again on that holiest of nights. When the sun crossed the sky, illuminating the mud strewn fields of brutality, the soldier's collectively lost the will to fight. One by one, the soldier crawled from their holes, their trenches, their safe havens, and crossed to embrace their enemy. And when the sky began to darken, the men refused to go back.

As word spread of the mutiny, soldiers up and down the Western Front put down their rifles and did the same. The soldiers, tired of a war that seemed to only be fought by them, turned on their officers, capturing and arresting them. By January of 1916, the Christmas Mutiny numbered in the thousands as the armies refused to fight one another. When the politicians in all of the belligerent nations condemned this and threatened to try them all with treason, the revolting armies bade each other good bye and did an about face and began to march in the direction of their respective capitals. The governments panicked at the the sight. Instead of violently overthrowing the governments, the soldiers instead staged a non violent protest by surrounding the capital buildings. The nations of Germany, France, Austria Hungary, Britain, and the other major powers on the Western Front found that they had no large armies willing to fight. Faced with pressure from the armies, which could potentially become very much less pacifistic, the governments of the world agreed to a cease fire in March of 1916. Once the war was over, the veterans came to believe that an organization should be formed to prevent large wars from consuming the world. The nations needed a league to keep the world safe. In May of 1916, at the behest of the bleeding hearts of the world, and the veterans who bleed for it, the belligerent nations came together to form the League For Peace. Every country that had fought was given a seat, as were many countries that had stayed neutral.

In the words of the first Prime Minister of the Indian Federation, Mahatma Gandhi, the League For Peace had "Brought peace in our time."
 
The International Alliance owes it origins to the fallout from the European War of the early 20th century when the Franco-Russian entente fought against the Austro-German league. Civil Wars in the Russian and French empires following their humiliation saw intervention from the neutral British and, to some extent, the Americans.
The 1919 Anglo-German Accord to limit takeovers of territory of the French, Russians, and allies, developed into the early Alliance for International Cooperation, often called the World Hansa, as a medium to resolve disputes over territory and promote trade without recourse to war or revolution. Though not overly effective reconciling the Russian Factions it had greater effect with limiting the Chinese Civil War in the 30s enabling a mostly stable constitutional state and bringing the US onboard in time for the Indian War of Independence that nearly broke the British Empire, later Federation, from the Alliance.
The demand to regulate peacekeeping, provide aid, and control truly free & fair trade, led to the Council and also the Assembly of Nations as semi-governmental organisations turning creating the International Alliance.
The basic AIC organisation still exists as an alternative to full membership, although only Japan is the major economic power without some involvement with the full IA, and as such its symbol of nested stars on a nested pentagon was adapted to produce that of the IA: nested stars on and within rings.
Below shows the flag used by the IA peacekeeping forces, the main field of rayed blues representative of land, air, and sea in union.
alliance-for-intl-cooperation.png
 
World Federation of Democratic States - Established in 1933

In an alternate timeline, the Zimmerman Telegram was never intercepted, and the Germans combined the entry of Mexico with a clever ruse of faux negotiations with the US over the limits of submarine warfare. This resulted in a war that dragged on much longer and was fought on five continents: Europe, Africa, North America, South America, and Asia. The longer war drove innovations in weaponry and science, bringing radio and photography to bear on the horrors of chemical weapons and other new weapons of mass destruction. This led to the war being called the War of Endless Horrors and brought many civilians to call for an end to the conflict. These calls went unheeded for years.

Much territory changed hands during this conflict. The US eventually acquired most of Mexico. Swaths of Russia, occupied by German forces and then liberated, refused to return to Russian rule, demanding the right to rule themselves and have a voice at the table where decisions like those that had caused the war that brought such suffering and misery to them had been made. At the same time, the economic devastation of war, and then the need to retool economies to a non-wartime footing weighed heavily on many nations. As the war ground to an end, and the Allied Powers finally achieved the surrender of the Central Powers, diplomats and politicians were already working on how to move forward in an unsure and unsteady peace.

Much analysis had been done already of the tangled web of alliances and treaties that had set the two sides at war. There were some who favored an immediate disentanglement of all such agreements and a return to isolationism. But there was a grander vision. The power of those ties had been demonstrated beyond all refutation. They simply had to be turned to the right purpose. Thus was conceived the World Federation of Democratic States. Initially, this body was assembled as an oversight and administrative body for the various treaties that ended the war, but it contained within it incentives for nations to join in and invest in an economic and trade partnership. This partnership required all members to be democratic states meeting particular requirements, but the lucrative benefits of joining were immense and obvious. Russia originally declined to join the pact, as did China and Japan and many African and South American nations. However, the nations that did join it enjoyed a prosperity that inspired envy among those that were not members.

This drove the members to consider military arrangements, driven by the concerns of those states still not allowed to maintain their own militaries as consequences of the terms of surrender arranged at the end of the war. Over time, the purview of the Federation expanded to include a federal government with a centralized judicial system and a single military force used to secure all members from external threat. Over time, nations petitioned for entry and changed their form of government to comply with requirements for membership. Japan still celebrates Abdication Day as a memorial to the wise Emperor Showa who listened to his people and reformed his nation's government. Russia, on the other hand, nearly suffered a civil war with insurgents finally throwing out their intransigent leaders and creating a new Democratic Republic of Russia in order to qualify.

This is the flag of the World Federation of Democratic States. The golden pip on the green semi-circle symbolizes the united people of earth. The blue represents the commitment to democracy, the white represents the commitment to peace, and the gold represents the promise of prosperity for all. The blue and white pips represent the 6 continents from which constituent states hail.

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Here is a quick entry with a PoD a fair bit before the end of WW1 since it's for a China-dominated world.

I won't do a big writeup since as I said it's a quick entry but long story short the below is the flag of Tianxia - a loose confederation of most states on Earth. It was established after the catastrophic Wars of the Five Directions that devastated the world in the decades following the collapse of the world-spanning Chinese Empire.

All Under Heaven.png


Symbolism of the flag is as follows:
The Five Colors = five traditional Chinese directions (black = north; blue = east; red = south; white = west; yellow = center)
天下 = Tianxia = All Under Heaven
和諧統一 = Héxié tǒngyī = Harmonious Unity
 
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