Flag Thread V
Following the overthrow of the Sikh Empire by General Prem Nath Kaul in 1883, the Punjabi Republic was created. As such, it now needed a new flag, one which would define the new state. The flag, was created in 1884 by a commission while Prem Nath Kaul was out conquering and integrating the hill states into the new republic. Prominent was the use of blue - previously it had seen much use by the military, and was strongly associated with it. According to Prem Nath Kaul's pet political theorist Fateh Singh Rakia, as it included Punjabis from all stations of society, the military was the political institution most representative of Punjabi society and therefore it alone could express the general will of the nation. As such, blue quickly became the national colour, earning a prominent space on the flag as a result. Within the blue portion of the flag is two swords, and between the two is written, in Perso-Arabic script (as was standardized for Punjabi in this period), "Deg Tegh Fateh", meaning "Cauldron, Sword, and Victory"[1]. This is an originally Sikh expression referring to the Sikh duty of protecting and feeding the needy and oppressed; due to the long period of the Sikh Empire, this concept (and many other Sikh concepts) had effectively become secularized and spread to all quarters of Punjabi society; the people behind the new regime sought to spread it further.
On the side of the flag is a tricolour. Originally these colours were streamers tied to the flag, but they were later made fixed. These colours originally referred to the three largest faiths of Punjab: red, to Hinduism; yellow, to Sikhism; and green, to Islam. However, mere colours were chosen to represent these three faiths with the intention that they could be redefined; as such, many have claimed connections between these colours and more abstract principles; recently, the government has stated that red represents hard work, yellow represents wealth, and green represents Punjab's great farmlands.
The flag's usage is regulated by a section of the Civil Code. Originally, its use was restricted to the government, but this was later abolished; today it is very much a national symbol representing the nation, the Constitution, and the people.
[1] At least, that's what I hope it says.
As I noted before, I'm trying to rework some of the stuff I was doing with the Moselrhein snippets I've posted, and here is the latest entry in that project. The flag of Brabantia (OTL Belgium, Luxembourg, and the historical Rhine Province of Prussia, plus a small part of the historic Nassau) consists of a tricolor and the coat of arms of the country, itself comprising the heraldic crests of the Duchies of Brabant, Luxembourg, Saarbrucken, and the electorate of Trier. The crown surmounting the crest is a grand ducal crown despite Brabantia's status as a kingdom; this is a nod to its heritage as an Electorate of the Holy Roman Empire (supplanting the OTL Electorate of Trier), an empire in which only one component part was entitled to the title of king (Bohemia).
The colors of the tricolor serve two purposes. First, the black bar represents the German and Brabantian heritage of the country (the color being common in the heraldry of Germany as well as the background of the Duchy of Brabant's coat of arms), while the blue represents the duchy of Luxembourg; they are tied together by a white bar, a color in common to both Luxembourg and Germany. The black also can be seen as representing the soil of the fertile valleys of the Rheinland and Flanders, with the blue representing the various rivers that were (and to some extent are) the country's lifeblood today (the Rhine, Mosel, Meuse, and Schelde). The white can be seen as representing the purity of spirit possessed by the people who maintain a unique identity despite centuries of conquest by various European powers and princes.
(Full credit for the Coat of Arms once again goes to @FriendlyGhost , based on a textual description from me. The tricolor was inspired by two actual tricolor flags used in this region, those of Neutral Moresnet and of the interwar Territory of the Saar Basin, though I have used a vertical rather than horizontal format.)
Red on top, I think, to balance out the green at the top of the tree.
These look familiar. If they're not your own design I would recommend citing who they're by. Anything that looks like plagiarism is rather frowned on on this forum.
Each to their own - it would be boring if we had the same opinions!I prefer green on top to match the green of the tree
Unlike the US and a few other countries, Canada's head of government (the Prime Minister) doesn't have a distinctive flag of its own. In a timeline where Canada was a republic or simply decided to have a flag for the PM, this could be it. The central emblem is the heraldic badge for a current or former PM and small vertical stripes are used so that the flag keeps some aspect of the federal flag's "Canadian Pale" design without the possibility of being confused with a variant of the federal flag.
Ephraim Ben Raphael
Banned
Of cool flags that people have posted on here. Sometimes I use them in my TLs, but not often.