Weekly Flag Challenge: Discussion & Entries
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What I have so far:
The United States Lunar Territory of Tycho Crater, or Tycho, was the first successful colony on the Moon not wholly formed from transient science or mining colonies. Its origins do lie with mining though with the creation of the US or American Lunar Mining Consortium, generally called LMC or LuMiC, as a mix of companies in association with NASA, with the purpose of mining Tycho Crater for helium and valuable minerals.
Its success came as LMC demand for workers impeded its profitability and a historic contract was made with the new Federal Department of Corrections who needed to deal with a growing population issue in prisons across the US. Thus in addition to the company habitats the Tycho Federal Correctional Institute was built to house the prisoners who would form part of the LMC workforce, their wardens, and associated families of both.
The Institute proved remarkably effective at rehabilitation and soon a large minority of wardens and LMC executives were former prisoners themselves.
The Flag of Tycho is based on the emblem of LuMiC - stars in a half ring over a crescent - with the addition of a voided orange star (replacing the letters LMC) in reference to the Institute. The field is deliberately white in reference to the colony's notion that life in Tycho is cleansing.
The United States Lunar Territory of Tycho Crater, or Tycho, was the first successful colony on the Moon not wholly formed from transient science or mining colonies. Its origins do lie with mining though with the creation of the US or American Lunar Mining Consortium, generally called LMC or LuMiC, as a mix of companies in association with NASA, with the purpose of mining Tycho Crater for helium and valuable minerals.
Its success came as LMC demand for workers impeded its profitability and a historic contract was made with the new Federal Department of Corrections who needed to deal with a growing population issue in prisons across the US. Thus in addition to the company habitats the Tycho Federal Correctional Institute was built to house the prisoners who would form part of the LMC workforce, their wardens, and associated families of both.
The Institute proved remarkably effective at rehabilitation and soon a large minority of wardens and LMC executives were former prisoners themselves.
The Flag of Tycho is based on the emblem of LuMiC - stars in a half ring over a crescent - with the addition of a voided orange star (replacing the letters LMC) in reference to the Institute. The field is deliberately white in reference to the colony's notion that life in Tycho is cleansing.
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Magnitogorsk Lunar Mining Company
The discovery of various rare minerals on the moon was largely a scientific curiosity for years, overshadowed by the Second Space Race to Mars. Then, in 2041, a Russian robotic rover found something which changed the rules of the game. Iridium. This was the third most valuable element on Earth at the time (second to Rhodium and Palladium) due to both its scarcity and the difficulty in extracting it. The discovery of an entire crater rich in Iridium was something which promised rich rewards to whichever country could control that crater.
Unfortunately for Russia, it was only the previous year that it had invoked Article II of the Outer Space Treaty to prevent the USA from claiming ownership of the area around the Apollo 11 landing site (‘...outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means’). The President therefore felt it impossible to claim direct ownership of the crater, fearing international opprobrium.
The solution was to give generous tax breaks to a number of companies, most notably the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works and the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company. These then formed a new company called the Magnitogorsk Lunar Mining Company (Магнитогорская Лунная Горнорудная Компания, Magnitogorskaya Lunnaya Gornorudnaya Kompaniya (MLGK)). With the joint backing of its various corporate investors, it launched a series of lunar missions to set up a series of mines in the crater, including many manned missions. The company claimed ownership of the crater directly, thus circumventing the perceived ban on a country owning any part of the moon.
Over the next 10 years, the domes and tunnels of the mines grew to encompass the entire crater, now known simply as Iridium Crater (Иридиевый кратер). The work was extremely dangerous and the company found it increasingly difficult to find volunteers to go, even with the huge salaries on offer. The solution found was to work with the government. The details of the deal are still unclear, but for the past 10 years, large numbers of convicts have been transported to the MLGK mines, which now exist in a number of craters, all ‘owned’ by MLGK. Officially all these convicts are those serving life for murder and other violent crimes, but it is alleged by various non-Russian organisations, and exiles, that the mines have become a convenient place to send dissidents as well. Some call the MLGK mines the ‘new Siberia’ but the name which has stuck most is ‘Rusa Penthe,’ a play on the name of the deadly mining planet Rura Penthe from an old sci-fi film ‘Star Trek the Undiscovered Country.’
It is this use of convicts which makes most international commentators treat the MLGK mines as part of Russia, rather than purely corporate territory, but so far no-one has managed to successfully challenge this in a court.
All MLGK mines use the same flag, which consists of a stylised set of the company initials (in Cyrillic): МЛГК, using mountains and mining equipment, appearing to sit on the edge of the moon, with the black background of the flag symbolising space. At the bottom of each flag are the initials of the specific location. The flag shown below is that of the original Iridium Crater, so has the initials И К.
The discovery of various rare minerals on the moon was largely a scientific curiosity for years, overshadowed by the Second Space Race to Mars. Then, in 2041, a Russian robotic rover found something which changed the rules of the game. Iridium. This was the third most valuable element on Earth at the time (second to Rhodium and Palladium) due to both its scarcity and the difficulty in extracting it. The discovery of an entire crater rich in Iridium was something which promised rich rewards to whichever country could control that crater.
Unfortunately for Russia, it was only the previous year that it had invoked Article II of the Outer Space Treaty to prevent the USA from claiming ownership of the area around the Apollo 11 landing site (‘...outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means’). The President therefore felt it impossible to claim direct ownership of the crater, fearing international opprobrium.
The solution was to give generous tax breaks to a number of companies, most notably the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works and the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company. These then formed a new company called the Magnitogorsk Lunar Mining Company (Магнитогорская Лунная Горнорудная Компания, Magnitogorskaya Lunnaya Gornorudnaya Kompaniya (MLGK)). With the joint backing of its various corporate investors, it launched a series of lunar missions to set up a series of mines in the crater, including many manned missions. The company claimed ownership of the crater directly, thus circumventing the perceived ban on a country owning any part of the moon.
Over the next 10 years, the domes and tunnels of the mines grew to encompass the entire crater, now known simply as Iridium Crater (Иридиевый кратер). The work was extremely dangerous and the company found it increasingly difficult to find volunteers to go, even with the huge salaries on offer. The solution found was to work with the government. The details of the deal are still unclear, but for the past 10 years, large numbers of convicts have been transported to the MLGK mines, which now exist in a number of craters, all ‘owned’ by MLGK. Officially all these convicts are those serving life for murder and other violent crimes, but it is alleged by various non-Russian organisations, and exiles, that the mines have become a convenient place to send dissidents as well. Some call the MLGK mines the ‘new Siberia’ but the name which has stuck most is ‘Rusa Penthe,’ a play on the name of the deadly mining planet Rura Penthe from an old sci-fi film ‘Star Trek the Undiscovered Country.’
It is this use of convicts which makes most international commentators treat the MLGK mines as part of Russia, rather than purely corporate territory, but so far no-one has managed to successfully challenge this in a court.
All MLGK mines use the same flag, which consists of a stylised set of the company initials (in Cyrillic): МЛГК, using mountains and mining equipment, appearing to sit on the edge of the moon, with the black background of the flag symbolising space. At the bottom of each flag are the initials of the specific location. The flag shown below is that of the original Iridium Crater, so has the initials И К.
I tried to go for something corporate - in other words, fairly hideous. I think I might have succeeded 
.
.I went for bland, you went for hideousI tried to go for something corporate - in other words, fairly hideous. I think I might have succeeded
It does indeed look suitably corporate! Congratulations on getting it done in time.I tried to go for something corporate - in other words, fairly hideous. I think I might have succeeded
Huh, I thought it too bland to win.
Ah well. Challenge up later
Latest challenge
Queries, comments, suggestions, as always are welcome.
The Great Empire of Koryŏ
"In 1388, the great General Choi Yeong defeated the traitorous Ni Seong-kye in defense of the capital, defending King Wangmin, a monarch with little legitimacy. Wangmin had ascended the throne after the murder of his father by pro-Yuan bureaucrats, at only the age of 11. By 24, Wangmin had built little legitimacy, but Choi Yeong was a dedicated Confucian who believed in obeying his rightful lord. However, in 1392, Wangmin suffered an infection from a hunting wound. Dying in agony, his fever-induced madness lasted almost a year, and sent him into a rage, easily manipulated. He ordered his own son's death, and removed numerous administrators from their positions. While many of these orders were ignored, enemies of the ailing king used his written orders for his son's arrest to lock the boy away. Strongly opposed to corruption and disgusted by the political power grabs at hand, upon the death of King Wangmin, General Choi leapt into action.
He freed the young Prince Chang, and escorted him away from the capital. The bureaucrats claimed Chang had been kidnapped, and when he died of illness a few months following the escape, they claimed Choi had him murdered. However, Choi's own men had already spread their story faster. Choi was a hero, rescuing the prince from would-be murderers. With the death of the heir, the bureaucrats named one of their own, No Hyeon-jo, as King. While initially demoralized, Choi acted to depose the new King, if only to lead a regency that would seek a more legitimate heir. However, the recent conflict had seen a great of violence and death between the nobility of the kingdom. Choi found that the closest heir he could find was granddaughter and grandson of a royal bastard. Their names were Wang Ji-woo and Wang Hyeong-don. Hyeong-don was a brash man, but got along well enough with Choi. For five years, Hyeong-don reigned bloodily but fairly, purging his regime. Choi would meanwhile remarry with Wang Ji-woo. But the King's reign would not last. 1399, the king suffered a sudden stroke. Choi Yeong took this as a sign. The King had named the great general as his heir while he awaited the birth of a child..."
"...Thus Choi Yeong ascended the throne, reluctant but at last ready to claim his destiny. In his reign, he would join the Ming Dynasty in a war against the Jurchen, and would negotiate rights to the ports of Liaodong. However, the ongoing collapse of the Ming Dynasty into the Southern and Northern Ming, later the Southern Ming and the Zhu Dynasty, would mean that these fishing rights would morph into unofficial administration...
...Upon his death, despite never desiring expansion, King Jojeong, as Choi styled himself, had gained control of the Liaodong peninsula. This would prove instrumental in the strategies of his son, Choi Gong, who would press northward in expansion against the uncontained Jurchens, before negotiating an alliance with the Zhu Dynasty. The Southern Ming saw this as a betrayal, but the Zhu would later feel snubbed themselves when Choi Gong declared himself Emperor of Great Koryŏ, an equal with the Zhu Emperor..."
"...Three generations later, the Zhu would unify China, but their weakened position saw them lose territory on all sides. Focusing south, moving their capital to Nanjing, the Zhu and Koryŏ would begin a lengthy rivalry only interrupted by a temporary alliance to crush the upstart Japanese...
...Koryŏ would eventually seize much of Northern China is the Third Koryoan-Chinese War in 1801. By this point in time, the Zhu Dynasty would crumble to the Christian Jingtian Dynasty, as Catholicism had come to dominate the south. The Jingtian would become a puppet of the Franco-Italians, with ports open to the other great European empires, like the Swedes, British, and Greeks...
...Koryŏ thus became the center of Asian power. The three Japanese Shogunates would all become vassals before being absorbed into the Empire in 1881. Koryŏ would expand West and annex the forgotten Russian settlements of the Far East. It would finally take winning a war with the declining British Empire in 1904 to finally garner international respect, creating a vassal state in Bengal and annexing Formosa. Even the Jingtian have become a member of the Koryŏ-led Asian Co-Prosperity Society, though the Leveller-state of the Indochinese Equalist Commonwealth has become a regional rival by 1950."
"...The flag of Koryŏ has stayed mostly the same throughout this. Derived from the royal standard of the Kingdom preceding it, the use of two phoenixes has become a cultural symbol of Koryoan people...
...Confucianism has always been a prominent faith, even during the Reign of the Five Taoist Emperors, the Chinese origins of the faith, combined with a steady gain of Chinese territory over the centuries, resulted in Chinese traditions being found on the Koryŏ flag. Yellow, representing the center and the Earth, was used as a base of the flag...
...The two phoenixes, initially meant to represent the second rebirth of the Kingdom into the Empire, would gain contrasting colors as they became fused with the popular symbol of the taeguk. Meanwhile, the center of the flag would bear the mark of central symbol of Fengshui. Fengshui has been utilized in numerous official buildings, and many cities constructed during the 19th Century were planned extensively to have Fengshui at the center of the entire layout. The black border originally was used to represent the borders of the frontier, cold and endless in every direction except south, black being a color representing winter..."
"In 1388, the great General Choi Yeong defeated the traitorous Ni Seong-kye in defense of the capital, defending King Wangmin, a monarch with little legitimacy. Wangmin had ascended the throne after the murder of his father by pro-Yuan bureaucrats, at only the age of 11. By 24, Wangmin had built little legitimacy, but Choi Yeong was a dedicated Confucian who believed in obeying his rightful lord. However, in 1392, Wangmin suffered an infection from a hunting wound. Dying in agony, his fever-induced madness lasted almost a year, and sent him into a rage, easily manipulated. He ordered his own son's death, and removed numerous administrators from their positions. While many of these orders were ignored, enemies of the ailing king used his written orders for his son's arrest to lock the boy away. Strongly opposed to corruption and disgusted by the political power grabs at hand, upon the death of King Wangmin, General Choi leapt into action.
He freed the young Prince Chang, and escorted him away from the capital. The bureaucrats claimed Chang had been kidnapped, and when he died of illness a few months following the escape, they claimed Choi had him murdered. However, Choi's own men had already spread their story faster. Choi was a hero, rescuing the prince from would-be murderers. With the death of the heir, the bureaucrats named one of their own, No Hyeon-jo, as King. While initially demoralized, Choi acted to depose the new King, if only to lead a regency that would seek a more legitimate heir. However, the recent conflict had seen a great of violence and death between the nobility of the kingdom. Choi found that the closest heir he could find was granddaughter and grandson of a royal bastard. Their names were Wang Ji-woo and Wang Hyeong-don. Hyeong-don was a brash man, but got along well enough with Choi. For five years, Hyeong-don reigned bloodily but fairly, purging his regime. Choi would meanwhile remarry with Wang Ji-woo. But the King's reign would not last. 1399, the king suffered a sudden stroke. Choi Yeong took this as a sign. The King had named the great general as his heir while he awaited the birth of a child..."
- The Great General, The Great Father by Kim Hyeong-pak
"...Thus Choi Yeong ascended the throne, reluctant but at last ready to claim his destiny. In his reign, he would join the Ming Dynasty in a war against the Jurchen, and would negotiate rights to the ports of Liaodong. However, the ongoing collapse of the Ming Dynasty into the Southern and Northern Ming, later the Southern Ming and the Zhu Dynasty, would mean that these fishing rights would morph into unofficial administration...
...Upon his death, despite never desiring expansion, King Jojeong, as Choi styled himself, had gained control of the Liaodong peninsula. This would prove instrumental in the strategies of his son, Choi Gong, who would press northward in expansion against the uncontained Jurchens, before negotiating an alliance with the Zhu Dynasty. The Southern Ming saw this as a betrayal, but the Zhu would later feel snubbed themselves when Choi Gong declared himself Emperor of Great Koryŏ, an equal with the Zhu Emperor..."
- History of the Koryoan-Chinese Wars by Tammy MacDurgan
"...Three generations later, the Zhu would unify China, but their weakened position saw them lose territory on all sides. Focusing south, moving their capital to Nanjing, the Zhu and Koryŏ would begin a lengthy rivalry only interrupted by a temporary alliance to crush the upstart Japanese...
...Koryŏ would eventually seize much of Northern China is the Third Koryoan-Chinese War in 1801. By this point in time, the Zhu Dynasty would crumble to the Christian Jingtian Dynasty, as Catholicism had come to dominate the south. The Jingtian would become a puppet of the Franco-Italians, with ports open to the other great European empires, like the Swedes, British, and Greeks...
...Koryŏ thus became the center of Asian power. The three Japanese Shogunates would all become vassals before being absorbed into the Empire in 1881. Koryŏ would expand West and annex the forgotten Russian settlements of the Far East. It would finally take winning a war with the declining British Empire in 1904 to finally garner international respect, creating a vassal state in Bengal and annexing Formosa. Even the Jingtian have become a member of the Koryŏ-led Asian Co-Prosperity Society, though the Leveller-state of the Indochinese Equalist Commonwealth has become a regional rival by 1950."
- Pax Caulia by Rosalie de Londe
"...The flag of Koryŏ has stayed mostly the same throughout this. Derived from the royal standard of the Kingdom preceding it, the use of two phoenixes has become a cultural symbol of Koryoan people...
...Confucianism has always been a prominent faith, even during the Reign of the Five Taoist Emperors, the Chinese origins of the faith, combined with a steady gain of Chinese territory over the centuries, resulted in Chinese traditions being found on the Koryŏ flag. Yellow, representing the center and the Earth, was used as a base of the flag...
...The two phoenixes, initially meant to represent the second rebirth of the Kingdom into the Empire, would gain contrasting colors as they became fused with the popular symbol of the taeguk. Meanwhile, the center of the flag would bear the mark of central symbol of Fengshui. Fengshui has been utilized in numerous official buildings, and many cities constructed during the 19th Century were planned extensively to have Fengshui at the center of the entire layout. The black border originally was used to represent the borders of the frontier, cold and endless in every direction except south, black being a color representing winter..."
- The Little Book of Flags, 3rd Edition, by Patrick K. R. Fitzgerald
Greater Korean Empire
大朝鮮帝国
(Dai Chōsen Teikoku)
(Dae Joseon Jeguk)
"I cannot believe it. I really cannot. To hear the Their Majesty speak is itself an honor, and a rare one. But today, the ones that fall from Their lips are truly miraculous. My classmate says this is all to be expected. That I should not be so shocked. But he is wrong. I have studied history, and the politics of that history, for many years now. He has only studied economics, and poorly at that. This truly is a shock.
Today, The Great Emperor said, 'We have chosen to amend the name of Our empire, to better reflect reality and to honor the subjects We so love. Eighty-five (85) years ago today, Our dear ancestors fled the foul horde of red-draped savages that pillaged Fair Nihon, who today still wallow in their own filth. They fled, and came to this, Our cherished realm of Chōsen, bringing with them, both in their exodus and in the years that ensued, the true Loyal and Pure subjects of the Throne. Fear was in their hearts, for they believed Chōsen to be a land of rebellion and backwardsness. Instead, they found Loyalty, Respect, Honor, and Dedication so fierce that it proved to them that it was in Chōsen that they would find kin of mind, soul, and heart, if not of blood. And even that did not last. Our blood is that of Chōsen, taking in the power of what was once two peoples, rendered one indomitable spirit. Today, kanjin and nikkejin, as well as all other peoples of Our empire, are reborn as chōsenjin, sons and daughters of the Dai Chōsen Teikoku!'
I am so happy. Once I lived in shame of the term ainoko. But then I heard the Great Emperor, Their Majesty, state plainly that They wear the term with pride. For is that not what Their Majesty is? Was not the kōtaigō from a family of kanjin? It has been argued that she is not the true mother of Their Majesty, that They are the son of a consort, but this a false, evil lie that slanders not just Their Majesty, but Their father the Banho Emperor, their mother the kōtaigō, and the accused consort! The creators of this lie are nikkejin snobs who deny quite literally the features of Their Majesty's beautiful face! A beautiful, ainoko face. A child in-between peoples, that word means. Their Majesty said in the word lies Their pride. Pride to be a bridge, to be a link in-between two peoples. And now They are doing it! Being a bridge... bringing us together.
Grandfather is unhappy. His father had only just wed his mother when the Imperial Family fled Nihon. When they brought with them all their soldiers and sailors and servants. Grandfather remembers what it was like, the first generation of kanjin to be born under the Genka Emperor. He is afraid that this change will spark anger, that it will be like his years in college, when blood filled the streets of Gyeongseong. Grandfather is not a foolish separatist or, worse, a gomasuri. He both welcomed my father into the family, but stood his ground and demanded a wedding of kanjin traditions. And that is why he worries. He worries that I will be targeted, that our home will be burned like his own was. But I do not fear. How long, I asked him, have both kanjin and nikkejin and ainoko all saluted our flag? He did not know what I meant, so I clarified I meant the current flag, when the kyokujitsu was merged with the taeguk. He said over 35 years. I asked, 'And before that?' And he said that long before that, the nikkejin still used the hinomaru-ki and the kanjin used the taikyoku-ki. I asked, 'But what did they salute together even then?' And he said, 'Oh! The sōtokufu-ki!' And I said, 'Yes. A flag with the rising sun in the canton of a great blue banner. A symbol of Nihon's rule in Chōsen. Then they made it the kyokujitsu over a sun-disk. Then they made the blue into white, and the kanjin suffered most then. But soon, as peace returned, Banho, as one his first edicts, combined both kyokujitsu and taeguk, and returned a border of the kanjin blue, to symbolize how Chōsen surrounds, protects, and envelopes the heart of True Nihon. And at True Nihon's heart? A symbol combining glory and peace, combining majesty and serenity, combining nikkejin and kanjin! Now, Their Majesty has only made the flag's truth be put into words on maps.'
But still, Grandfather worries. He is soothed, but he fears about other regions. About the manshūjin, roshijin, and especially the betojin. They will demand a greater say, argue that they are part of the nation too. But they would be wrong. The heart of this county is Chōsen. Their Majesty speaks both tongues, but uses kango when not speaking to the masses, and while our pronunciation is clearly nikkejin inspired, does not all, even the manshujin, or the blue-eyed roshijin, and the betojin so far away in Indochina, all speak nihongo with kango grammar? I hear that the Reds in Nihon even call our language nikkego, for it is so incompatible with their own! So let the fringes of the minorities rabble rouse. Perhaps one day we will make a new term for us all. But Chōsen itself now means a land of fusion. I am sure they will learn to love the name, especially since chōsenjin will now be used to refer to us all, regardless of what other jin we call ourselves. Yes. I can see it now. A new future is coming, and Their Majesty will usher it in! Truly, the Koji era is a new chapter in the history of this Empire!"
- The Diary of Kwan Akane, Student at Heijō University (AKA Pyeongan University), June 15th, 2020 CE (Koji 5)
((Hello! I decided to add a lil' descriptor after I made this flag. I quite like writing from an in-universe perspective, but I like less text-booky stuff and more primary sources. So I wrote this diary entry! To make it simple, Japan fell to communism in 1935, and the government fled to Korea. The author, a college girl enamored with the new Emperor, clearly dresses things up with her biases, but the gist is that after a period of discomfort and violence, the empire-in-exile reformed and became increasingly Korean dominated. I was inspired by how Chinese culture came to dominate even the Manchu upper class of the Qing dynasty. The flag is based on the Governor-Generals flag of Korea. As explained, first the Rising Sun was put in the canton, then the whole field was made white during the period of the most Japanese-supremacy. Afterward, a blue border was added and the Rising Sun was mixed with the taeguk (but only after it had already become a popular enough symbol amongst Korea's Japanese elite, to distinguish themselves from communist Japan). At the end, the diary talks about the Manchus, Russians, and Vietnamese of the Empire being dissatisfied. Our author not only shows her bias against them, but envisions a utopic future ahead (unlikely...). So yeah, I hope a Koreanified Japanese empire-in-exile based in the Korean peninsula still fits the bill for this challenge!))
大朝鮮帝国
(Dai Chōsen Teikoku)
(Dae Joseon Jeguk)
"I cannot believe it. I really cannot. To hear the Their Majesty speak is itself an honor, and a rare one. But today, the ones that fall from Their lips are truly miraculous. My classmate says this is all to be expected. That I should not be so shocked. But he is wrong. I have studied history, and the politics of that history, for many years now. He has only studied economics, and poorly at that. This truly is a shock.
Today, The Great Emperor said, 'We have chosen to amend the name of Our empire, to better reflect reality and to honor the subjects We so love. Eighty-five (85) years ago today, Our dear ancestors fled the foul horde of red-draped savages that pillaged Fair Nihon, who today still wallow in their own filth. They fled, and came to this, Our cherished realm of Chōsen, bringing with them, both in their exodus and in the years that ensued, the true Loyal and Pure subjects of the Throne. Fear was in their hearts, for they believed Chōsen to be a land of rebellion and backwardsness. Instead, they found Loyalty, Respect, Honor, and Dedication so fierce that it proved to them that it was in Chōsen that they would find kin of mind, soul, and heart, if not of blood. And even that did not last. Our blood is that of Chōsen, taking in the power of what was once two peoples, rendered one indomitable spirit. Today, kanjin and nikkejin, as well as all other peoples of Our empire, are reborn as chōsenjin, sons and daughters of the Dai Chōsen Teikoku!'
I am so happy. Once I lived in shame of the term ainoko. But then I heard the Great Emperor, Their Majesty, state plainly that They wear the term with pride. For is that not what Their Majesty is? Was not the kōtaigō from a family of kanjin? It has been argued that she is not the true mother of Their Majesty, that They are the son of a consort, but this a false, evil lie that slanders not just Their Majesty, but Their father the Banho Emperor, their mother the kōtaigō, and the accused consort! The creators of this lie are nikkejin snobs who deny quite literally the features of Their Majesty's beautiful face! A beautiful, ainoko face. A child in-between peoples, that word means. Their Majesty said in the word lies Their pride. Pride to be a bridge, to be a link in-between two peoples. And now They are doing it! Being a bridge... bringing us together.
Grandfather is unhappy. His father had only just wed his mother when the Imperial Family fled Nihon. When they brought with them all their soldiers and sailors and servants. Grandfather remembers what it was like, the first generation of kanjin to be born under the Genka Emperor. He is afraid that this change will spark anger, that it will be like his years in college, when blood filled the streets of Gyeongseong. Grandfather is not a foolish separatist or, worse, a gomasuri. He both welcomed my father into the family, but stood his ground and demanded a wedding of kanjin traditions. And that is why he worries. He worries that I will be targeted, that our home will be burned like his own was. But I do not fear. How long, I asked him, have both kanjin and nikkejin and ainoko all saluted our flag? He did not know what I meant, so I clarified I meant the current flag, when the kyokujitsu was merged with the taeguk. He said over 35 years. I asked, 'And before that?' And he said that long before that, the nikkejin still used the hinomaru-ki and the kanjin used the taikyoku-ki. I asked, 'But what did they salute together even then?' And he said, 'Oh! The sōtokufu-ki!' And I said, 'Yes. A flag with the rising sun in the canton of a great blue banner. A symbol of Nihon's rule in Chōsen. Then they made it the kyokujitsu over a sun-disk. Then they made the blue into white, and the kanjin suffered most then. But soon, as peace returned, Banho, as one his first edicts, combined both kyokujitsu and taeguk, and returned a border of the kanjin blue, to symbolize how Chōsen surrounds, protects, and envelopes the heart of True Nihon. And at True Nihon's heart? A symbol combining glory and peace, combining majesty and serenity, combining nikkejin and kanjin! Now, Their Majesty has only made the flag's truth be put into words on maps.'
But still, Grandfather worries. He is soothed, but he fears about other regions. About the manshūjin, roshijin, and especially the betojin. They will demand a greater say, argue that they are part of the nation too. But they would be wrong. The heart of this county is Chōsen. Their Majesty speaks both tongues, but uses kango when not speaking to the masses, and while our pronunciation is clearly nikkejin inspired, does not all, even the manshujin, or the blue-eyed roshijin, and the betojin so far away in Indochina, all speak nihongo with kango grammar? I hear that the Reds in Nihon even call our language nikkego, for it is so incompatible with their own! So let the fringes of the minorities rabble rouse. Perhaps one day we will make a new term for us all. But Chōsen itself now means a land of fusion. I am sure they will learn to love the name, especially since chōsenjin will now be used to refer to us all, regardless of what other jin we call ourselves. Yes. I can see it now. A new future is coming, and Their Majesty will usher it in! Truly, the Koji era is a new chapter in the history of this Empire!"
- The Diary of Kwan Akane, Student at Heijō University (AKA Pyeongan University), June 15th, 2020 CE (Koji 5)
((Hello! I decided to add a lil' descriptor after I made this flag. I quite like writing from an in-universe perspective, but I like less text-booky stuff and more primary sources. So I wrote this diary entry! To make it simple, Japan fell to communism in 1935, and the government fled to Korea. The author, a college girl enamored with the new Emperor, clearly dresses things up with her biases, but the gist is that after a period of discomfort and violence, the empire-in-exile reformed and became increasingly Korean dominated. I was inspired by how Chinese culture came to dominate even the Manchu upper class of the Qing dynasty. The flag is based on the Governor-Generals flag of Korea. As explained, first the Rising Sun was put in the canton, then the whole field was made white during the period of the most Japanese-supremacy. Afterward, a blue border was added and the Rising Sun was mixed with the taeguk (but only after it had already become a popular enough symbol amongst Korea's Japanese elite, to distinguish themselves from communist Japan). At the end, the diary talks about the Manchus, Russians, and Vietnamese of the Empire being dissatisfied. Our author not only shows her bias against them, but envisions a utopic future ahead (unlikely...). So yeah, I hope a Koreanified Japanese empire-in-exile based in the Korean peninsula still fits the bill for this challenge!))
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Man I was totally considering an exiled Japan empire too! I’m kind of wishing I had gone with that idea instead. Ah well, there’s always next time.
Absolutely.
The empire just has to be based in Korea, it doesn't have to be OTL Korean at all.
Sounds great! I have just the idea. I just need to make the flag. :3
Kingdom of Hanyo (韓遼, Hanyo)
Do you know what this place is, child? Your tutors may not have told you. We are outsiders, cornered in a foreign land. The vast steppes that we once called home are but a distant memory, robbed from us by the treacherous Jurchen usurpers. The people of Goryeo were hostile, eager to support any promise to drive out the 'barbarian occupiers'. And it is for these reasons we had to change, to spurn our heritage for another solely to ensure our survival.
Hanyo was not a name our forebears took when the vile, self-proclaimed emperor Aguda scattered our people. Some fled into the vast unknown, holding out in small fiefdoms in memory of the fallen Yo dynasty. Others sold their souls to the Jurchen mongrels, pledging their allegiance to the so-called Jin. We? We hid out in the mountains, in the ruins of what was once a formidable enemy. Goryeo, a land so defiant and inhospitable to us, it took many battles and deaths to bring them to their knees. We had sacked their capital, and brought the usurper king Hyeonjong in irons. But never did we imagine that our downfall would force us here, and that their former Jurchen tributes would grow fat with arrogance.
The people of Goryeo had long detested us. They despised our puppet kings, and they reviled the destruction of their homeland and freedom. For a long time, Dongran (東丹), as this kingdom was once called, was an imperial province in all but name. But then the unthinkable happened, and our beloved homeland was razed to the ground. Yayul Seupi (耶律習爾), king of Dongran and of distant blood to the imperial family, took up the mantle of the Yo, and sought to continue the legacy of our vanquished empire. But our enemies are many, both within and outside. Those that fled the imperial domains feared for their lives, and revolts were constant among the Goryeo peasants, aided by silver-tongued promises of freedom from Jurchen snakes. Buckling under pressure, our kings committed to the unthinkable. We pledged fealty to the Jurchens, and became tributes to the Wanyan jackals.
Reduced to glorified Jurchen governors, our once proud people had been broken, battered and rejected. Scorned by the locals and mocked by our new overlords, the Yayul kings, bereft of their imperial titles, could only act as mere puppets in the Jurchens' power plays with the great Song. We were unused to the mountains, where herds were left wanting for pastures. Our language and script was incomprehensible to all. Worst of all, we have our backs to the sea, where escape was impossible. But time had a way of changing us, and our trials and tribulations humbled us to our hosts and former enemies. It was then we realized that we could never return to who we were. Our ancestors may harbour delusions of grandeur, of reclaiming our lost homelands in triumph, but we are no longer that naïve. We learned the Goryeo tongue. We settled among them in the farmlands, cities and mountains. We mastered the seas our forefathers once had deigned to touch, and we absorbed their wealth of knowledge and philosophies. By the time the Mongols toppled the Wanyan scoundrels, there was little left separating us from the natives. Those of our old brethren who remained in the steppes could no longer recognize us, but that is as it should be. From there, we built a kingdom worthy of our name, and engraved it onto this land for posterity.
My dear Iyeol (夷列), scion of the Yayul, look upon our banner and see. Do you hear it whisper our name, burning with a bright flame? I know not what will become of us, when the armies of Yi storm our walls. But the Khitan have survived far worse. We will survive this one.
- Queen Posok'wan/Pusuwan (普速完), speaking to Prince Yayul Iyeol/Yelü Yilie of Liao during the Siege of Kaesong (1392) by Joseon, epilogue of the Hanyo Sagi (History of the Korean Liao)
OOC Notes:
Do you know what this place is, child? Your tutors may not have told you. We are outsiders, cornered in a foreign land. The vast steppes that we once called home are but a distant memory, robbed from us by the treacherous Jurchen usurpers. The people of Goryeo were hostile, eager to support any promise to drive out the 'barbarian occupiers'. And it is for these reasons we had to change, to spurn our heritage for another solely to ensure our survival.
Hanyo was not a name our forebears took when the vile, self-proclaimed emperor Aguda scattered our people. Some fled into the vast unknown, holding out in small fiefdoms in memory of the fallen Yo dynasty. Others sold their souls to the Jurchen mongrels, pledging their allegiance to the so-called Jin. We? We hid out in the mountains, in the ruins of what was once a formidable enemy. Goryeo, a land so defiant and inhospitable to us, it took many battles and deaths to bring them to their knees. We had sacked their capital, and brought the usurper king Hyeonjong in irons. But never did we imagine that our downfall would force us here, and that their former Jurchen tributes would grow fat with arrogance.
The people of Goryeo had long detested us. They despised our puppet kings, and they reviled the destruction of their homeland and freedom. For a long time, Dongran (東丹), as this kingdom was once called, was an imperial province in all but name. But then the unthinkable happened, and our beloved homeland was razed to the ground. Yayul Seupi (耶律習爾), king of Dongran and of distant blood to the imperial family, took up the mantle of the Yo, and sought to continue the legacy of our vanquished empire. But our enemies are many, both within and outside. Those that fled the imperial domains feared for their lives, and revolts were constant among the Goryeo peasants, aided by silver-tongued promises of freedom from Jurchen snakes. Buckling under pressure, our kings committed to the unthinkable. We pledged fealty to the Jurchens, and became tributes to the Wanyan jackals.
Reduced to glorified Jurchen governors, our once proud people had been broken, battered and rejected. Scorned by the locals and mocked by our new overlords, the Yayul kings, bereft of their imperial titles, could only act as mere puppets in the Jurchens' power plays with the great Song. We were unused to the mountains, where herds were left wanting for pastures. Our language and script was incomprehensible to all. Worst of all, we have our backs to the sea, where escape was impossible. But time had a way of changing us, and our trials and tribulations humbled us to our hosts and former enemies. It was then we realized that we could never return to who we were. Our ancestors may harbour delusions of grandeur, of reclaiming our lost homelands in triumph, but we are no longer that naïve. We learned the Goryeo tongue. We settled among them in the farmlands, cities and mountains. We mastered the seas our forefathers once had deigned to touch, and we absorbed their wealth of knowledge and philosophies. By the time the Mongols toppled the Wanyan scoundrels, there was little left separating us from the natives. Those of our old brethren who remained in the steppes could no longer recognize us, but that is as it should be. From there, we built a kingdom worthy of our name, and engraved it onto this land for posterity.
My dear Iyeol (夷列), scion of the Yayul, look upon our banner and see. Do you hear it whisper our name, burning with a bright flame? I know not what will become of us, when the armies of Yi storm our walls. But the Khitan have survived far worse. We will survive this one.
- Queen Posok'wan/Pusuwan (普速完), speaking to Prince Yayul Iyeol/Yelü Yilie of Liao during the Siege of Kaesong (1392) by Joseon, epilogue of the Hanyo Sagi (History of the Korean Liao)
OOC Notes:
- The POD is the second Goryeo-Khitan War, where King Hyeonjong of Goryeo was captured at Kaesong rather than escape to Naju as per OTL. Establishing a Liao puppet state, Dongran later claimed the mantle of the Liao dynasty after the Jin conquered it, welcoming many Khitan exiles to Korea. Existing as a Jin tribute for most of its history, it switched allegiance to the Mongols, though was ultimately able to maintain its independence. Throughout this time, the Khitan exiles gradually assimilated into the majority Korean population, becoming the Hanyo or Korean Liao. It was only after the fall of the Korean Liao state to TTL's Joseon that the name came to be associated with the kingdom itself, to differentiate it from other Liao successors.
- The symbol on the Hanyo/Korean Liao flag is a stylized character of the Khitan large script 'Khita', meaning Khitan, modelled after the emblem of the OTL Joseon kingdom and intended to emulate the Taegeuk. In addition, the shape is meant to look vaguely like a flame.
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Aha! So now we have a native empire, an empire of eastern invaders, and an empire of western invaders!