Challenge said:
Entry 1 said:Empire of Morocco-Andalusia
إمبراطورية المغرب-الأندلس
Imperio de Marruecos-Andalucía
In this ATL, Islam doesn't spread as fast or as far into northern Africa as in OTL, meaning that most countries there would be eastern orthodox or Coptic. Sometime during the Renaissance in this timeline, the reconquista either fails or isn't as much as a priority for Spain and Portugal seeing as the Muslim threat wasn't as domestic as it could have been, meaning that it would only be a problem further east (E.g. the Ottoman Empire). Seeing how idle Iberia is, Morocco sends its armies north into Granada, Gibraltar and eventually all of southern Spain.
Soon, Morocco and Andalusia join together militarily into a Moroccan-Andalusian Empire stretching from Cordoba and Jaen to The Western Sahara and Mauritania. Realistically, Morocco-Andalusia would also try to reclaim the Macaronesian islands or even Cape Verde from Spain and Portugal too, meaning that The Empire would either leave them be or force them to adapt Berber / Southern Spanish culture. Hypothetically speaking, this would result in what many would call a 'Byzantium of Africa' seeing as the empire would hold such vast territory so close to the rest of Europe. Maybe the empire would be able to reach the Americas this way, making North Africa a possible team player in the race for the new world...
The flag of The Empire is a Dominican Republic styled cross flag featuring the colors of red (Morocco / Spain), Yellow (also Spain), and green (Andalusia / Portugal). Each corner of the flag features one of the pillars of Hercules on green and the crown from the OTL modern Moroccan flag on red to invoke an imperial feel.
Entry 2 said:United Kingdoms of Anglia and Cymru
Following the ascension of Henry Tudor to the English thrown he attempted to do his best to thank the Welshmen and Lords for their assistance in his crowning. Henry's end goal was to unify the two neighbouring countries under one Kingdom, though this seemed like a plan for the future. The new regents first challenge was to unify the Lordships under one ruler. He gave the title of Prince of Wales to Rhys ap Thomas, destroying the previous tradition of naming one's firstborn son the Prince of Wales. Henry did this for two main reasons; the first being the obvious malcontent of the Welsh peasantry and Lords of being ruled directly from England and having an Englishman given the proud title of 'Prince of Wales' and secondly to keep the unwavering loyalty of the Welsh. Something that was shown over and over again from Rhys a Thomas and the other Lords following smaller rebellions of the Yorks.
And thus the two Kingdoms ran parallel to each other until the birth of Henry Tudor (in this timeline Henry's first son.) Henry the VII proposed the marriage of his firstborn to Rhys ap Thomas (who had now adopted the family name Llawgoch because of the killing blow he had given Richard III) daughter Elen Llawgoch. The marriage was successful and Elen received the title of Queen of Cymru while Henry VIII received the title of King of Anglia following his father's death. This tradition became popular throughout the period with the female regent mostly being picked from the daughters of Welsh Lords. Sometimes the traditions were broken in the purpose of a stronger foreign tie but the title of King of Anglia and Queen of Cymru was always kept with the title of Co-Regent of Anglia and Cymru being added a few centuries later.
The flag was based on the ideas of Elen Llawgoch who ordered that the myth of the red dragon of Cymru and the white dragon of Anglia should no longer be fighting and should be rampant, facing each other in complete equality showing the dual Kingdoms both represented under one banner.
{{not very original idea but being Welsh I love making Alt-History with Wales. Sorry if the history is messed up it's not my strong suit}}
Entry 3 said:The United Kingdom of Bulgaria and Serbia
Brief History
The United Kingdom has its roots in the Great War where the Hungarian Empire had coopted Slavic nationalism in its Serbian and Bulgarian provinces in order to destabilise the Slavic provinces within the Turkish Empire. With the defeat of the Turks but the collapse of Hungary the Western Allies obtained the creation of the Kingdoms of Serbia and of Bulgaria as buffer states.
Both Kingdoms survived the Socialist Wars by embracing South-Slavic Nationalism, and thus a closer alliance, becoming founder members of the Yugoslav Confederation in opposition to the Socialist Codominion [of Ardelia, Hungary, and Wallachia].
The withdrawal of Illyria and the Serbian Succession Crisis almost broke the Confederation however Prince Milutin of Macedonia popularised public opinion to continue further political union and the resultant Referendum for a Complete Union was comfortably won by the unionists; thereafter King Boris II of Bulgaria accepted the title of Tsar of Yugoslavia.
Flag
The original Confederal flag was a triband of the 3 founders:
The UK flag merges elements from both the Serbian and Bulgarian flags in a new way.
- Illyria - white 6pt star on red
- Serbia - blue cross and firesteels on white
- Bulgaria - red cross on white bordered in red with gold roundels
It is a blue cross edged in white over a red field; each corner bears a golden firesteel; over the centre is a circular version of the Tsar's (new) simple arms - a black cross pattee on gold bordered in black with 12 golden roundels.
