Flag Thread IV
- Thread starter Pragmatic Progressive
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WFC entry cross-post. Admittedly heavily inspired by playing CK2
The Fylkirate of Midgard
In the late 10th Century, the consolidation of much of the Aesir-worshiping population across Scandinavia, northern Germania, and much of Britannia led to the establishment of the first Fylkirate. "Fylkir" derived from the term fylk, meaning "people", and just as fylke meant a kingdom in the sense of a united people, and fylking in the sense of a united unit of warriors as if they were a people, the Fylkir was the unifying figure for all of Ásatrú. Fylkir Erik I reformed their pagan religion, creating a codified text in the Trúóðr, and for a time the realm began to prosper, albeit through a great deal of war with the Christians to the south, who themselves, fearful of enemies on two fronts, began renewed efforts to vanquish and then convert the nations of Islam. Though the Fylkirate fell, it would be recreated by Fylkir Ragnarr II, and it would last for centuries longer. But in the Second Fylkirate grew the Followers of Loki. Initially, it was a collection of cults, chief among them being that of Hel, daughter of Loki, and the monstrous overseer of Helheim, a land of death. But worshipers of her fathers quickly outgrew and then subsumed them, and it was not long before the Followers established their own proper hierarchy and pantheon; the God of Mischief and Fire lorded over them, ruling from the shadows; his daughter Hel, the Goddess of Death, waited hungrily for their souls to punish and twist to her desires; his son Fenrir, the Dread Wolf, the God of Shadows and Destruction guided their warriors to battle; and his son Jormungandr, the World Serpent, God of the Seas, granted their vessels mercy on the waves, or did not. These fickle deities were worshipped, but not obeyed. To the Followers, obedience to dogma and morality was to confine oneself, not only boring Loki and earning his ire, but worthlessly wasting life before Hel tortured your soul. Hedonistic backstabbers, the Followers remained underground, but grew in power. Those exposed claimed that to favor one of the Aesir was no crime, even if he was not one of those deemed worthy of veneration by the Trúóðr.
When the Plague struck in the late 16th Century, the Fylkirate began to crumble once again. This time, the Followers would be those who rallied to recreate it. In slow, painful conquest that took a century, the Followers carved the Third Fylkirate, under their leadership. The starving and diseased masses followed them, for they brought food from their grainstores and medicine from the Christian south. It also required little motivation to tell the unhappy peasantry that their lords could be killed, for the House of Loki reveled in Chaos and debauchery, in those with ambition seizing power by any means. This anarchic beginning tapered away over time, as the hierarchy of the Followers asserted itself. But it did not vanish. A man that could not fight for his land could see it stolen, a women that could not defend herself could be raped to a cheering crowd, a lord that could not protect his position could be stabbed in broad daylight. Only the presence of the military, whose purpose was the ensurement that ultimately the stability of the Fylkirate (and thus of the Followers and their ways) was not endangered by recklessness and idiocy, as well as the general desire for content stability by communities ever kept the peace. As cunning was seen as perhaps the greatest of traits, those who could cleverly assassinate or simply outmaneuver and embarrass their superiors were valued in the Fylkirate's politics, while the strict obedience of a wolfpack was demanded from soldiers. Unhindered by honor or morality, and valuing knowledge, the Fylkirate quickly began to overtake Christendom, slave labor powering the empire as tactics of brutality prevailed on the battlefield. With the fall and destruction of Rome, Constantinople, Madrid, Tunis, and Jerusalem in the span of only a decade, by the dawn of the 18th Century, Midgard was established, spanning the continent of Europe. With this establishment came a new purpose; the conquest of the globe and the unification of humanity under the banner of the House of Loki, with the purpose of creating an army that will help break the chains of fate and bring about a New Ragnarok; one in which the world would be destroyed and recreated, where the Aesir would be slain, and Loki and his children would sit in the bloodied halls of Asgard, their frothing mass of followers given a lush new Earth to fight and fornicate upon.
Midgard revels against the idea of 'good'. War crimes are points of pride for soldiers, their leadership rise through murder most commonly, but on occasion opponents are left with nothing, being left financially and socially ruined. The government is powerful, holding the ability to do whatever it likes to its citizens, who in turn as constantly told that the system of the Followers grants them more opportunity for power and wealth than any other. That all rebellions in the past have failed also has served to neutralize descent. Humiliations and/or Executions (not always in that order) are public events, crime practically celebrated. The state-controlled industry is perhaps an irony in Midgard; seen as critical to the survival of the Fylkirate and to the successful execution of Ragnarok, sabotage of industry, endangerment of quotas and milestones, and the death or injury of necesarry personnel are seen as grievous offenses, the punishment usually involving the slow murder of one's family before being killed yourself.
The flag of Midgard represents their ambitions and dreams. Jormungandr is displayed as having let go of his tail, a sign of Rangarok, and the Wolfsangel rune, an increasingly common symbol of Fenrir, represents Midgardian military might. Being the two members of the House of Loki that dwell in Midgard (this barrier represented by the gold ring), they are seen as representations of Midgard and Humanity when presented together. The red of the banner is for the blood of humanity, which they will unite by any means, and which they happily spill, and few know if it was originally intended to be red, or if every first iteration of the flag, which was originally a war banner for the army, simply came back covered in blood.
"Comrades! We have emerged form our slumber, and we are poised to retake the Earth! But, make no mistake: unlike the Capitalist and Imperialist pig-dogs, we do so not for our own benefit, or for material gain. Rather, we do so for the sake of what we know is true. That we are the future of mankind! The fulfillment of the Dialectic! We shall proceed into the aeons, taking back the earth, liberating its people from despots and Yankee imperialism!" (He grows visibly flustered, and begins fiddling with the boot of his cryosuit) "The Soviet Way - The Socialist Way - is the only ture way! Human liberation is at hand, and would have been fulfilled long ago were it not for the aggressions of the Fascists!" (He finally pops off the boot, and begins raising it over his head) "To the Yankees and Fascists that watch this broadcast, you sniveling capitalists, lording over your huddled masses of humanity, you bastards that would sooner see humanity dead than your grip on power shaken, you cowards, you motherfuckers-" (He begins violently smashing his boot against the podium, causing wood chips to come flying off) " - WE WILL BURY YOU! WE WILL BURY YOU! WE WILL BURY YOU! WE WILL-" (Broadcast cuts off, the Soviet anthem plays)
-Address of General Secretary Vladimir Putin von Ungern Sternberg to the Politburo upon reawakening from their 10,000,000 year cryoslumber
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The white strips at the top and bottom represent the poles of Mars, from whence most of the SSR's water is drawn, and the hammer sickle and star are encircled by the symbol of the planet
fashbasher
Banned
The "New Nordic Flag", created to represent the Grand Bargain among the three main political streams that have created the Nordic model of social democracy:
Socialism, labor unionism, progressivism (red and yellow)
Classical liberalism, neoliberalism, liberal democracy (yellow and blue)
Christian democracy, conservatism, and monarchism (blue and purple)
The flag was proposed by the officially centrist (but in policy far-left) Nordic Party of Sweden, which opposes any renegotiation of the welfare state, cuts to healthcare, and foreign or private ownership of infrastructure, banks, or media. Furthermore, it calls for creating more affordable housing even if it necessitates seizing vacant homes and land, fining climate change sceptics, and jailing almost the entire Riksdag with "political manslaughter" if even one person is killed by further rationing of care or closing of hospitals/police stations in rural areas. The Nordic Party is widely seen as Communist in all but name even though it considers itself to be a centrist party. Alternate flags appear below:
(The green represents environmentalism)
(A bowdlerized variant popular among those who are strongly opposed to both communism and who are not ardent monarchists)
Hi Tim, are you sure you have posted the right image? This is a thread for alternate history flags. These look quite OTL to me.
We don't really have one. Sometimes we discuss OTL flags but only within the context of ATL flags. You can look at previous pages for examples.
No, it's clearly an ATL flag which is the flag of Earth, the many national flags within one greater flag representing nations both big and small to present the diversity of Earth.
No no, it’s a world where near-square proportions have been adopted, and this the collective flags of the New Allies faction in WWIII.
Aesthetically, I prefer the second. In the others, the canton doesn't quite touch the edge of a stripe and that bugs me.
Which would work though better if you had to pick
To how many? To represent like the states or?
Kinda how it works on dimensions.
8 would be sufficient.
With 8 stripes, I would like the first one the best.
Isaac Beach
Banned
I like the first and second ones, but as others have noted the stripes not matching up with the canton is kinda irksome.
If there wasn't a specific reason to use 7 stripes, you could try 9 (number of provinces of ancient China) or 22 (number of provinces of the Republic of China at the time of establishment).
Not sure what you mean. You wanted it to be exactly one quarter of the flag? You could try enlarging the canton until it touches a stripe.
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