Weekly Flag Challenge: Discussion & Entries

Petike

Petike

Cousteauan Commonwealth of Aquanauts (300px).png


Cousteauan Commonwealth of Aquanauts


The story... :p
One fateful afternoon in the 1950s, Jacques Cousteau was visited by Skippy the ASB. Skippy was in a cheeky mood and decided to give Jacques and his family a sheet of something he called "a few cheat codes to the Universe".
More than half a century has passed since then. Monsieur Cousteau and his relatives and faithful followers from all over the world reside in a polity they have dubbed the "Cousteauan Commonwealth of Aquanats". This is a new and very hi-tech underwater society, the attempted culmination of the old oceanographer's dream about a futuristic and jolly utopia beneath the waves.
As the Cold War era drew to a close, all major governments and maritime powers of the world still kept fuming about the upstart lanky Frenchman and his global undersea empire still evading the reach and pressure of the international community. Derided as a "latter day Captain Nemo", Cousteau became hated in official political circles and adored in the popular imagination of the world public, painted as a dashing and unwaveringly energetic antihero with a grand vision.
Nevertheless, despite the repeated implementation of state of the art life-extension technology, Cousteau Sr. is a tired old patriarch in the present of 2015. He formally abdicated the Manta Ray Throne, on which he sat as the first and founding Captain* since the Commonwealth's inception.
Though his son, the second Captain of the Commonwealth, has swore to carry on and uphold the traditions of the still young Aquanautic way of life, Jacques-Yves' somewhat dotty old plans of genetically modifying humans into "homo aquaticus" have been pretty much quietly dropped by this point.
And so, while the world looks on in confusion and shakes its fist at the stubbornly independent aquanauts, the peculiar oceanic empire keeps living its daily life, worrying little about the dramas of the landlubber world. It is a meritocratic but oddly rustic polity of seabed farmers and miners, oceanographers and divers, seabases and seasteads, submarines with biotic propulsion and defence advancements, surface ships powered solely by turbosails... and a polity of the ever-present ideology of Cousteauism, which can be boiled down to "the oceans are awesome, dude !".


* - "Emperor of All Oceans and Aquanauts" would be such an overly grandiose (if accurate) way of putting it... ;)

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Exclusive prequel comic: When Skippy met Jacques-Yves :D

skippy-meets-jacques-yves-png.247556


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With apologies to Policenauts (it's hard to draw a Vitruvian Man graphic...).

And yeah, as far as the backstory is concerned, I'm going for the ah-sue route this week. :p
 
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Sovereign12

[FONT=&quot]Empire of Snork

With the unexpected death of his father, mother, and sister, along with his uncle Dr Galeo Seaworthy, Allstar Seaworth went to live with his Uncle Dr Strangesnork Seaworthy. While not a happy childhood, Dr Strangesnork attempted to interest Allstar in science. As the years went on more Snorks were dying from an unknown cause. Allstar and Dr Strangesnork eventually discovered that the Snorks were dying from pollutants from the surface world. Dr Strangesnork's long buried megalomania began to surface. With the help of a special surface-suit he designed, the doctor sent Allstar to the surface world to investigate the cause of the pollutants.

What Allstar found was acres of berries being grown on large farms. On the shore of the ocean was a large factory in the shape of a large toadstool. Pipes lead from the building dumping blue and pink liquids into the ocean water. A shirtless blue man that looked something like a snork saw Allstar and called the alarm. Blue soldiers began to attack Allstar with berries and cupcakes. Fleeing back to the sea, Allstar informed his uncle and Governor Wellington Wetworth of the evil the surface dwellers were doing. Vengeance is sough upon the surface dwellers and the Snorks armed for war.

The war would last several years, but with the aid of a giant surface dweller and his orange feline, the Snorks conquered the blue surface dwellers. Thus begins the Empire of Snork, with Emperor Allstar Seaworthy the First. While ten years of his rule has been relatively calm, there are inklings of trouble from the deeper parts of the oceans. The rampaging hordes of Sea-Monkeys are encroaching on Snork territory.

War will be upon the Mighty Snork Empire once more.
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snorks.png
 
Stuyvesant

Stuyvesant

I know that decisions on the next challenge belong to the winner; but A suggestion: An empire of a polity claiming to be the successor to the Western Roman Empire a la the HRE.
 

Larus Marinus

Seems I won flag challenge 123. This was a close one; I was expecting a tie at best.

It was somewhat difficult to come up with an original challenge considering its already #124. Hopefully something like this hasn't already been done recently.

Kuld von Reyn said:

FLAG CHALLENGE 124: Senātus Populusque Rōmānus
Most of the polities claiming to be the "heirs of Rome" historically were mainly concerned with the legacy of Imperial Rome and its emperors. The old republican traditions were largely forgotten or ignored in favor of the memory of Caesar.

The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to design a flag for a state that not only claims to be the heir of Rome, but also maintains republican traditions similar (if only on paper) to those of the old Roman Republic. The PoD, location of the state in question and which Rome to use is up to you. The state can contain Italy, but can't originate from there.

Submissions Open: Now
Submissions Close: 23:59 GMT 13th February
Voting Opens: 14th February ish
Voting Closes: 21st February ish
Click to expand...
 
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Laqueesha

Laqueesha

Flag of the Federal Roman Democratic Republic (FRDR)

The flag has two colors, two stripes, and two stars, as the number two is a recurring motif in FRDR heraldry, symbolizing the eastern and western Roman empires, as well as the senate and people of Rome. The FRDR is a secular federalized presidential republic with a bicameral legislature and controls territory in OTL Italy, the Balkans, and Turkey. This particular flag was adopted in 1912. The current FRDR constitution was ratified in 1996.

EGUqiC8.png
 
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Larus Marinus

Since there's only one entrant this close to the deadline, I guess I'll enter too.

Sacred Roman Republic
"The Sacred Roman Republic (SRR) started off as one of the many breakaway military "empires" that emerged in the wake of the Severian sack of Rome. Spared the horrors that plagued the rest of the former Roman Empire, the so-called "Empire of Britannia" was a literal island of peace in the war-torn remnants of the once mighty Roman Empire.

This peace did not last long, however, as a succession crisis plunged Britannia into civil war. After three years of strife, it was not an emperor who would eventually come to restore order, but an alliance of landowners and priests of the Cult of Sol Invictus. The fear of the instability and bloodshed caused by such conflicts made the people fearful of a return to monarchical rule, and it was thus decided that it would be preferable to instead return to the system of government of their ancient ancestors, that of the Roman Republic.

Gathering together in the first meeting of the Senate of the Sacred Roman Republic, the landowners and priests present did their best to draft a set of laws that sought to emulate the Roman Republic they held in such high esteem. The result would have been considered less than ideal by the Romans of the actual Roman Republic, but it was considered more than adequate by those gathered there.

For two centuries the SRR prospered and expanded, spreading the cult of Sol Invictus to the northern frontiers of their realm and beyond. While the mainland was still largely dominated by the pagan faiths and customs of the Slavic, Baltic and Germanic tribes that had shattered the Roman Empire, the light of the sun and the ideals of the republic were spread throughout the British Isles.

All good things must come to an end, however, and the Republic of Britannia was no exception. Land and wealth being concentrated in the hands of the most powerful landowners and large-scale corruption in the ranks of the Cult of Sol Invictus had deteriorated the SRR from within. While the Senate still formally held power, the great landowners generally did as they wanted, with little regard for the decisions of the Senate. The clergy, meanwhile, seemed more interested in lining their own pockets than venerating Sol Invictus.

The Sacred Roman Republic was no longer sacred, Roman or a republic in anything but name."

3O0dOtf.png
 

Larus Marinus

Since I don't fancy getting up early to put up a poll, and since we only have two entries so far, entries will be accepted for about 12 more hours. If there's anyone planning any last minute entries, that last minute is fast approaching.
 

Alternatehistorybuff5341

The Neo-Roman Republic (Il Neo Repubblica Romana)

In the months preceding the start of the Second World War, Benito Mussolini made a bold decision that would ultimately save his empire. He decided not to sign the Pact of Steel and tie Italy to whatever path Germany intended to go down. Despite threats from an enraged Hitler, Mussolini stood his ground and affirmed that only Italy would choose it's destiny. When the war began some months later, Italy (like Fascist Spain) would remain a neutral state. This would ultimately spare the Fascist regime in Italy as it stayed out of the conflict that would spell doom for the Third Reich.

The regime would live on in Italy for almost another decade before a Soviet backed revolution swept through the peninsula. Mussolini and his loyalists fled to Italy's oversea territories in Africa as the King was overthrown by leftist rebels. Most Italian rebels were simply glad to be rid of the oppressive regime within their homeland, and did not bother to fight over the colonies.

Though Ethiopia would also declare it's independence during this time, Mussolini's forces and fleeing loyalists would settle down in Libya.

Rather than continue as the 'Kingdom of Italy' (for the royal family had been deposed from power), Mussolini and his party established a new nation. The Neo-Roman Republic. The state would be a 'Republic' in name only, but Mussolini successfully established the state as a successor to the ancient legacy of the free Romans...at least within their borders. Internationally the NRR is a pariah state, but that doesn't stop the fascist party from declaring their 'Roman' heritage.

Roman.png

EDIT: Apologies for the pixelation; it happened when I resized it to fit the height and width requirements.

Roman.png
 

xt828

[Star Trek based]
In the early 90s, the Augments began to reveal themselves as they took control of nations and regions, reforming their territories to better suit their superior intellects. In West Europe, John Ericssen established his Pax Europa, remodelling the continent along Roman lines and taking on overtly Roman symbolism. At his command, the European armies extended the borders of that state well into Africa and Eastern Europe before his death at the hands of a Chinese nerve agent.

Terran Republic.png
 
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Larus Marinus

The poll for Flag Challenge 124 is now up!

I was originally going to enter despite the rules saying that the previous winner can't enter their own challenge, since I see that as a more productive use of time than just extending the deadline or coming up with a new challenge. With two more entrants, there's no longer a need for me to do so, so I wish the three vexillologists who entered good luck in the polls.
 

ah-sue

Petike said:
*friendly hug*
Ah, that's all right, I've missed it quite a few times as well.
Click to expand...
Thanks Petike.
FWIW here are the flag and 'greatest extent' map I created for the Illyrian Republic a couple of days before the deadline but never got round to posting in time
.


 

Larus Marinus

Laqueesha has won flag challenge 124!

Laqueesha said:
Flag of the Federal Roman Democratic Republic (FRDR)

The flag has two colors, two stripes, and two stars, as the number two is a recurring motif in FRDR heraldry, symbolizing the eastern and western Roman empires, as well as the senate and people of Rome. The FRDR is a secular federalized presidential republic with a bicameral legislature and controls territory in OTL Italy, the Balkans, and Turkey. This particular flag was adopted in 1912. The current FRDR constitution was ratified in 1996.

UUGeqtf.png
Click to expand...
 
Laqueesha

Laqueesha

I've won! Well, 'ere is the next challenge, blokes and birds.
Laqueesha said:
FLAG CHALLENGE 125: It's Party Time!

In many countries, such as in Eurasia and the European Union, political parties have flags of their own. However, in the U.S., this is not the case. Therefore, your challenge is, to create a flag for one of the four major U.S. political parties: The Republicans, the Democrats, the Libertarians, and the Greens.

Submissions Open: Now
Submissions Close: 23:59 EST, 27 February 2015.
Voting Opens: 28 February 2015
Voting Closes: 6 March 2015
Click to expand...
 
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