I was over in the Flag Challenge thread, and I did not read the rules carefully. After winning a cycle, the winner has to sit out the next cycle. So, I have this backstory and flag all set up, and it was suggested that I post it over here. I offer this as free use for anyone that wants it. Use just the flag, or the flag and the backstory, whatever you want.
The Mexicayotl Dominion
In the early 1500s, the Spanish began to establish a presence in Mesoamerica. They had found the Caribbean islands easy to overrun, they had experienced success in Florida, and so they turned their sights on the stronger indigenous tribes of southern Mexico and Central America. What they found astounded them. There was a diversity of tribes that organized themselves into territories ruled by fantastic cities. Most of the cities at this time paid tribute to Tenochtitlan, the capital of the strongest tribe in the area. While there were riches to be had everywhere, Tenochtitlan was the jewel coveted by Cortes.
At first, the Spanish were allowed to land and trade. The Aztecs were curious, and they sought to learn. The Spanish and the Aztecs had very different ideas about the limits of Spanish dominion, and in 1518 Cortes executed a handful of Aztecs to punctuate this disagreement. The Aztecs responded with an attack that was repelled by superior Spanish weaponry. The Spanish wanted to press the advantage, and knew that a handful of cities were unhappy paying tribute to Tenochtitlan. They approached the rulers of those cities with a plan to lure the warriors of Tenochtitlan out for a fight, whereupon the allied indigenous tribes would attack the less defended city. Several cities agreed to this plan, and Cortes marched his men and cannons inland.
Meanwhile, the ruler of Huejotzingo, one of Cortes's allies, had turned on Cortes and informed Moctezuma II of the plan. The emperor told the ruler of Huejotzingo that in return for his loyalty, he could have whatever he wished, as ruler of his city. The ruler of Huejotzingo asked that Moctezuma release all of the cities from tribute, if they would side with Tenochtitlan against the Spanish. The emperor agreed. Cortes and his men were ambushed as they made their way toward what they assumed was an unsuspecting Tenochtitlan.
Cortes begged the emperor to spare his men. Moctezuma told Cortes that the men would be given a chance to live, but Cortes would pay for the lives that had been taken. Cortes was brutally executed. Moctezuma then told the remaining men that they could teach his people to create cannons and guns, or they could join in Cortes's fate.
Moctezuma kept his promise to the other cities and released them from tribute. Together, they swept across the entire area, down into modern day Panama and up into southern Mexico, subduing and assimilating the other tribes and cultures. By 1540, the Mexicayotl Dominion had been firmly established. One other thing that Moctezuma appropriated from the Spanish was the idea of a flag. The original design has been altered several times over the centuries, and the empire has been replaced by a sort of hybrid republic system, but the main elements of the flag remain. The tri-colored bands represent Tenochtitlan, the other Aztec cities/tribes, and the Maya, who joined the empire peacefully, negotiating membership rather than resisting. The blue represents the sky and the water, encompassing all that is. The main sigil on the flag is a stylized representation of Queztecoatl, the standard of the emperor.
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