Weekly Flag Challenge: Discussion & Entries

Flag Challenge #133

EUROPE: Christianity and Islam never occurred, the Roman gods predominated long after the fall of the Roman Empire, through the ‘Dark Ages’ until a Renaissance brought forth many things, one of which was a new, monotheist religion. But within a century doctrinal disagreements caused a bitter and violent schism, one version of the religion dominating the north of the continent, the other version dominating the south.

The challenge is to identify a symbol for one version of the religion and incorporate it into a flag of a nation. Backstory wherever possible!

It’s up to contestants to decide where the division into north and south lies. Nations can be those that exist in OTL or in an ATL.

Entries open Thursday 23 July at 0001 BST and close on Thursday 30 July at 11pm BST.
 
I've had a brilliant idea for this and I'll be putting it up in the next few hours.

Is there any timeframe for this flag?
 
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Well, obviously. What I meant was - when did this "Renaissance" take place and can the flags go up to, say, the modern day?

The timing of renaissance is up to the competitor, though I'd prefer that he/she stated the century it occurred.

Flags - from that renaissance up to today, it's in the hands of the competitor.
 
Vestal Rome

The Vestal Virgins dated back to the ancient Kings of Rome, in the early decades following the city's founding. Their influence had grown and waned over the course of centuries, as the empire was first born and then swelled to cover most of Europe and the western edges of Asia, and their ascendancy would only come to be during the Great Schism of the 18th Century AUC*. In the 17th Century, the empire had nearly fallen to self-proclaimed dictators and errant governors in Britannia and Gaul, but had remained united against all odds. The rupture had begun, however, and it would take a religious crisis to see the fall of Rome as the greatest power in the known world.

The College of Pontiffs was split by the idea of Vestalism. The Vestal Virgins, with the influences of the Persian Zoroastrians, were seen as the keepers of the "sacred flame" of Rome and their significance in Roman society appeared to be crucial to the security of the city and the empire. This dedicated group of priestesses were above common social obligations and were made untouchable by Emperor Florianus IV - something that irked the College of Pontiffs (who believed that Florianus had taken a Vestal Virgin as a mistress and wanted to reward her order for "services rendered to the empire"). A doctrinal split occurred in the 18th Century, as Vestalism became a monotheistic religion in its own right. Those who held to the "Old Gods" were appalled when Emperor Florianus declared Vestalism the state religion of Rome, causing fighting to break out across the empire and the split of the northern provinces from "Vestal control" in the city of Rome. Decades of fighting were ended when the Dictatorate of Rome was declared and Vestalism retreated behind the Vallis Poenina - after then, Vestalism became the official religion in most of the new nations stretching from the former province of Hispania Ulterior in the west to Syria in the east. The Dictatorate was part-military dictatorship, part-theocracy - the Dictator had supreme legal authority and the command of the entire army of Rome, but was nominated by the College of Vestal Virgins (the ruling council of the matriarchal priesthood). The Dictatorate only controlled the central and southern provinces of Roman Italia, limiting the Dictator's power and reach. Vestalism stretched much futher... meaning the Virgins held great sway over hundreds of thousands of follower, all of whom were devoted to the sacred flame and the worship of Vesta.

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* 1 AUC in this timeline is equal to 752 BC in our timeline.
 
(My first flag, yay! Also, like the esteemed member above me, I use the AUC calendar.)


Morganism traces it root back to Greek Hekatians secret societies who appeared during the 11th century. They migrated quietly into the rest of the Empire, especially in Gaul and Germania, where they mixed with resurgent pre-conquest Druidism, the cult of the Celtic goddess Morrigan in Britannia, and Junon in more Latin area.

Shortly after the renaissance of the Empire in the XVIth century, Emperor Justinian declared the cult of Sol Invictus the only faith allowed. In Gaul, the prophetess Morgane Corvus, also called Morgane the Black, opposed the desecration of traditional druidic temple by imperial representatives. She was subsequently arrested for sedition and martyred in 1582. According to traditions, her will to defend her people and their way of life was so strong it allowed her to fend off Death and ascend to godhood, reuniting with the 'universal creatrix' to whom she was a priestess.

Her former followers started to venerate her as the 'Winged Lady' and the 'Queen Beyond the Sky'; her cult became popular in most northern provinces, and later spread to Asia and Egypt, despite being officially forbidden. The Pontifex Maximus Fabius Lepidus edicted a holy war against them in 1638, and only the collapse of the second Empire a century later ended the persecutions.

Many northern European states who emerged after the revolution incorporated Morganist symbol, such as the raven feather, e.g the flag of the United Gallic Republic below.

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Flags of the World: The Use of the Symbols of the Church of Zalmoxas

Originally a minor Greek cult, mostly followed by the Getae, slow dissemination throughout the slave population of the northern Roman territories brought about a rapid increase in the number of adherents between 1254 and 1354 AUC (500 and 600 AD). As mechanical means of agriculture became more advanced in the Northern Roman Empire (see Magna Germania Latinus) the emphasis of the worship of Zalmoxas shifted from one of slaves to that of a healer, which was already in the early God’s purview. After the collapse of the Northern Roman Empire due to corruption from within and the hordes of the Cathaini (1654-1966 AUC [900-1212 AD])(A merger of early Mongolian and Khitani peoples) that swept in from the east, the libraries and hospices of the Zalmoxas Church were the only ones to retain pre-Roman knowledge. Many towns were built up around these hospices and churches.

An early symbol of the worship of Zalmoxas is the symbol of a cave or underground entrance. This represented a metaphorical death and resurrection into a new life as a being learns wisdom. The labrys, or double-headed axe, has also been a strong symbol of the Church from early on in its misty history. As Zalmoxas was originally a slave and mortal whom gained knowledge and rose above his station in life, the labrys is seen as the blades of learning which cuts down ignorance.

The flag below is that of the Republic of Lugdenis (OTL upper France, Belgium, and Netherlands: see Lugdunenis) and has the typical black cavus (cave-shape) with a white labrys on the hoist of the flag. The three stripes on the fly of the flag are the traditional colors of the Lugdensis: orange for the happiness, blue for bounty of the North Sea, and gray for equality. The "width of the fly" is not perpendicular to the "length" as in most other flags. The Lugdenis flag has an angular slant parallel to the cavus on the hoist. Typically a small tassel or jingle bell would be attached where the Width and length meet on the fly.

Another nation that uses this same symbology is...


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Were you unable to come up with a title for this week's flag challenge, or did you just forget to include one?

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Here's my entry; I decided to tie it to something I made months ago. Chalk inconsistencies up to biased historians. Note that this is intended more as a sort of conworld thing than serious allohistorical writing.

The Severian Empire

Few before the Great Eclipse would have thought that what had started as a series of barbarian raids on the borders of the empire would eventually culminate in its conquest. A savage horde from the east, known collectively as the Severians after its predominant tribe, had been making inroads into Roman territories for some time. The attacks had mainly been limited to skirmishes and raids of minor settlements, but one day they arrived in full force, and did not stop until they reached Rome itself. The day the Severians sacked Rome was also the day of a total solar eclipse. While it was at first taken as an ill omen by both sides involved, it soon became clear that the Severians were winning. Legend states that the Severian leader took the head of the Roman Emperor at the culmination of the eclipse, but it is unknown whether this is fact or fiction. Nevertheless, the event became known as the Great Eclipse by Romans and Severians alike, albeit with different connotations.

The Severian leader, declaring himself emperor to the cheers of his compatriots, took as his sigil a white, eclipsed sun on a black field. This symbol would later become widespread and important within Severian Rome not only as a symbol of the new dynasty's imperial authority, but also as a religious symbol. While the Severians were eventually assimilated culturally by the empire they had toppled, there were also cases of cultural and religious syncretism between the conqueror and the conquered. The faith that would eventually emerge from this was dualistic in nature, at first venerating various aspects of pagan sun and moon gods, but eventually evolving into a monotheistic religion which saw the sun and the moon as two faces of the same deity. There was an emphasis on cycles, with the life, death and rebirth of mankind, their empires and their God at the forefront. The Severian eclipsed sun became a symbol of this religion, representing not only death and rebirth, but also the moment the two faces of the Divine briefly unite.

This new religion did not arise overnight, however. For almost two centuries after the Severian conquest, the former Roman Empire (save Britannia) was consumed by warfare during what later became known as the Age of Darkness. It was not by any means a period of constant warfare, but the internal peace known in the heyday of Rome was all but gone in most of its former territories. While the first Severian emperor did not live long enough to see the end of the age he had helped usher in, he did start a lineage of emperors that would eventually unite much of the fractured Roman Empire under their rule. Italia, Hispania, Gallia and most of Illyrium had, mainly through conquest, become part of the so-called "Severian Empire" during the Age of Darkness, and it was in these territories the new Faith initially emerged.

The following century is known as the Age of Rebirth to historians. Its relative peace compared to the Age of Darkness, increase in trade and commerce, and the rise and spread of the new Faith all contributed to a sense of optimism among the inhabitants of the shattered remnants of the Roman Empire. The Faith- adopted, consolidated and spread with great zeal by the latest in the line of Severian emperors- spread far beyond its initial foothold in the Severian Empire, gaining many followers in Germania and beyond. The Faith took on a life of its own beyond the reach of Severian institutions, however: under the influence of the Britannian missionaries of Sol Invictus, duality aspects of the Faith would become heavily downplayed in favor of the concept of a single god of the sun; this resulted in a strange mixture of Britannia's brand of monotheistic sun worship and many concepts primarily associated with the Severian brand of the Faith, such as the ideas of cycles and rebirth.

While the Severian Emperor could have tolerated the misguided faith of the Germanians, he could not tolerate the rise and spread of the same heresy to his own provinces. Northern Gallia had been under Britannian religious influence for centuries, and was close to Germania to boot, and even parts of Illyrium and northern Italia were showing heretical tendencies. The Emperor clamped down hard on the rising heresy, hoping it would not take long before his realm was once again united under a single Faith. The local inhabitants did not exactly appreciate the presence of the Imperial Army, seeing it as an attempt to undermine their ancient privileges, nor did the Germanians across the borders, who saw it as a Severian preparations to launch an unprovoked attack on their homelands. The Emperor, on the other hand, was worried that the Germanians would ally with the Britannians to aid the heretics in his border provinces.

The Germanian tribes, banding together in the face of a perceived common enemy and backed by Britannian gold, soon became the greatest thorn in the Empire's side and ushered in an Age of Strife as they took up arms to defend their homes and beliefs. The violent war that resulted was as much a product of misunderstandings and overreactions as of real doctrinal differences, which would remain a theme throughout the long war of religion

During the Age of Rebirth and the Age of Strife that followed it, the Severian Empire used the banner pictured below. The eclipsed sun had, by then, come to represent the new Faith as much, if not more, than the imperial dynasty.

(Larger version)

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FLAG CHALLENGE № 134: Revolution Rock

The ideals of the revolution aren't based on liberalism, democracy, socialism or fascism - this revolution is based on music! The old regime is gone and the new, revolutionary regime needs a flag based on their particular revolutionary genre.

Your challenge is to create a flag for a revolutionary state based upon any genre of music you can think of (punk, reggae, classical, etc.) and any nation (OTL and ATL) can be used.

Submissions Open: Now
Submissions Close: 17th August
Voting Opens: 18th August
Voting Closes: 25th August
 
Here's my entry;

The Most Metal Republic of the Reborn Norse

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When the weak-willed leaders of varying northern nations attempted to ban Viking Metal, the multitude of its most devout listeners took arms. Riots occurred daily, often transforming into bloody moshpit concerts. While some talked of repealing the ban, most believed the riots were but proof of the destructive effect Viking Metal had on society. Soon it became clear to the metalheads that the only way to live as they pleased was to create their own nation; preferably violently. While the revolution began in Sweden, places as far as the USA experienced similar revolts. Within 6 years, the Republic was founded, its black banner flying in the wind, striking fear in the hearts of the non-listeners.

From their capital of New Uppsala (formerly Stockholm), the His Wrathfulness the Allfather and his varying warrior Thanes govern with an iron-fist. All other forms of music are outlawed, dressing in colors deemed 'pastel' is frowned upon, and wearing anything other than Viking-esque clothing is punishable by death. These measures, the government claims, are to ensure that the Revolution continues on without hindrance, as nothing less than Metal-purity would allow for non-listeners to sabatoge all that the Reborn Norse have created.

A society of aggression, expansion, and conquest, the Most Metal Republic of the Reborn Norse seeks to establish Neo-Viking culture as the most supreme. The navies of the nation burn coastal cities to the ground, while their amphibious landings have left little in their wake. Already, Scandinavia, the Baltics, Northern Scotland, and even the coasts of Newfoundland have felt the terror of the Viking metalhead's war-axe. New settlements are created daily, and some fear they cannot be stopped.


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shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
My entry:

The Peoples Rock n' Roll Republic of Paradise

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A small mountainous, resource rich Republic founded in 1968 on the principles of Rockabilly and Doo Wop by the Eternal Chairman Presley, situated in the former State of Nevada, with it's capital in Paradise City. The Republics Flag consists of a crossed Guitar and Pick, obviously representative of the PRRRPs emphasis on Rock and Mining, with the blue representing the clear sky, and the silver stripe flanked by gold the states rich resources. One of the strongest west coast nation of Post-US North America, there are rumors it may merge with the Hip Hop Free State of Lost Angels and the Banda Social Republic. Currently under the rule of Premier Penniman.

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