Weekly Flag Challenge: Discussion & Entries

Iserlohn

I'm not going to let The Professor win without any sort of competition!

Here is my flag for the Union Of Greater India: The flag design (both the orange colour and the swallow tail) itself is borrowed from the Maratha Empire, which in rather recent history ruled huge tracts of land on the Indian subcontinent. The cockade stands for the original flag proposal by Gandhi in 1921, with the white standing for purity, the red for the Indian people's sacrifice and the green for the Union's hope, as well as Republicanism. The white bar below the cockade symbolises the peace intended between the many ethnic groups of the Union. The hexagram in the centre of the cockade stands for the religious variety of the Union Of Greater India, seeing how the six-pointed star is an important symbol in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Islam, which all have followers within India.

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jkarr

Greater Union of Ashoka (1950 - 1992)

Nations: Republic of India, Republic of Pakistan, Kingdom of Nepal, Theocratic State of Tibet, Republic of Bangladesh

Official Religions: Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism

Captial: Bhopal


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Akkismat

Republic of Bangla

The Republic of Bangla was one of the earliest realms that became de facto independant after years of civil war.

The republic consists of OTL Bangladesh, Assam and parts of Myanmar.

Bangla was a breakaway Islamic republic from the beginning which housed many and diverse groups which culturally and religiously were different from the majority of the country which was culturally Bangali and religiously Islamic. Bangla itself also has a lot of organisations and rebel groups who claim independance for their own regions, such as the Assam Liberation Army and the Birmese People's Liberation Front.

As of now there is a civil uprising starting in some Assamese provinces, which most think is fueled with money and arms from the Union and even China.

The flag is based on the old Mughal Empire flag and incorporates some emblems from the Indian Independance Movement. The Islamic symbol of the moon-and-crescent itself was adopted after right-wing Bengali nationalists gained a majority of seats from 1981 on. Before this the moon-and-crescent was a stylized Bengali lotus flower.

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Konrad13

Following Hitler's invasion of Switzerland, the Swiss retreated even more into neutrality, and by 1947, had completely closed it's borders, expelling all diplomats and refugees. Little was heard from the small nation until 1951, when a French border patrol heard gunfire across the border. Approaching quickly and cautiously, the French saw the opening battle of the Swiss Civil War.

The Swiss Civil War pitted canton against canton in bids for supremacy, land, and defensible borders. Soon, hundreds of Swiss citizens were popping across the borders in fear for their lives, as the battles began to tear families apart.

It finally ended in 1957 with the Treaty of the Three Cantons. Geneva, Jura and Zurich had formed the League of Three Cantons in 1954, and slowly had worn down the other cantons (save Basel-Stadt, which requested and received annexation by the French for safety). The Treaty dissolved all former cantons, which were swallowed up by the Three Cantons. The capital was declared to be Bern (made into a small capital region), and the nation changed it's name in 1958 to the Federal Republic of the Three Cantons. The flag was scrapped and replaced with one that took elements from the three, and the nation opened it's borders again.

Though the civil war ended, political and economic instability kept the nation teetering for nearly two decades. In 1975, the FRTC's elections saw the rise of the Peoples Democratic Party. Though with a name akin to that of the so-called "People's Democratic" rogue states of East Asia, the party had nothing to do with Communism, looking and acting more of a fascist party. Heinrich Pelli was declared Chancellor, and very quickly began exercising authoritarian powers over the press and government. Declaring that it was foreign influences that was keeping the Three Cantons from coming into it's own, he closed the borders once more. The FRTC's military remained on high alert for citizens attempting to leave the nation. Few escaped but those that did came with horror stories of starvation, political prisons, and widespread abuse of power by the armed forces, particularly rape and murder. However, with little more than hearsay, the UN and neighboring nations could do little.

On 10 November 1991, the day after the West Berliners had begun tearing down the Wall, a flood of refugees came out of the Three Cantons. While news had been failing to get out, radio from Europe had been getting in, and the Berlin Wall events had moved one Hans Moser to move on his boss, Pelli, and kill him. Pelli had concentrated all power within a very small circle of trusted advisers, who were quickly captured and executed by now disloyal troops. Relief from all over West Europe, Australia, America and Canada came pouring in. Swiss refugees began moving back home to rebuild, and Moser was elected Chancellor. He officially banned PDP, reformed and reduced the army, and began to pull the FRTC back onto the world stage.

It's 2011 now, 20 years having now passed since The Grand Opening. The FRTC is now a stable nation with a growing tourist industry, and joined the European Council and European Monetary Group in 2002. Government's power has been reduced, and the Cantonal Franc is now symbol of rebound recovery. Bern is now a large tech-industry city, with a population of nearly 300 thousand, and the Jura Grunauto company is the fifth largest automaker in the world.

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Akkismat

I made an alternate flag for the Swiss confederacy.

Instead of the flag of Schwyz, the confederacy later adopted a flag in red and white in the format of the Grey League.

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Iserlohn

jkarr said:
why are people posting swiss styled falgs when the new comp hasnt even being annoujhnced yet?
Click to expand...

Akkismat said:
It seems I won the latest challenge. Thank you for the votes!

Seeing the discussion on the voting thread I have decided to hand over
the next flag challenge to Iserlohn. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Iserlohn said:
CHALLENGE: "Swiss Neutrality"

Design an alternate flag of Switzerland or a successor state of the Swiss Confederacy!


Basic challenge, just simple mapmaking ;)
Click to expand...

These two quotes should answer your question.
 
The Professor

The Professor

A sort of an ATL Swiss parallel since the invisible POD is before OTL Swiss Confederacy forms...

Federal Republic of Swabia (Bundesrepublik Schwaben)

The Federal Republic of Swabia [1] has its origins in the fragmentation of the Duchy of Swabia under the later Hohenstaufens. Under German Roman Emperor Frederick II, the Shires, or Gaus, of Schwyz and Uri were granted Reichsfrei status [2]....
...the addition of Swabia to the restored Kingdom of Arles (Burgundy) under GRE Henry VII Hohenstaufen [3] caused problems with the divisive Zahringer (Badener), Kyburger, and Habsburger nobles leading to many Gaus requesting Reichsfrei status...
...the succession of the Grand Dauphin Hugo of Burgundy-Savoy [4] to the Arelat Kingdom and his failure to obtain the Imperial Crown led to war in Swabia...
...the conclusion of the Swabian War and the extinction of the Kyburger and Habsburger lineages [5] saw 3 leagues in the former Duchy of Swabia – the Swabian City League, the Raetian League, and the Swiss League. With the accession of King Otto of Arles as German Roman Emperor, the 3 leagues were allowed to become separate from Arles in exchange for certain military duties...
...the Reformation War led to the 1st Union of the 3 Leagues – sometimes called the League of Three...
..with the abolition of the Alemannic Republic, much of the former United Leagues of Swabia called for a restoration...
...following WW1 the Swabian Protectorate was united into a Federal Republic...


The Flag

The flag maintains the colours of the original League of Three (red & white for the Swiss, white & red for the Swabian City, and black & white for the Raetian) but has abandoned the plain 5-stripe of the United League, which was appropriated for the Swabian Protectorate, in favour of the Saxon triangular hoist & stripes arrangement.

The flag has a black triangular hoist reaching the centre over 5 equal stripes – red white red white red.
On the hoist is a simple Swabian cross in white.


[1] so called as it roughly covers the lands of the former Duchy of Swabia
[2] as OTL
[3] a different marriage gives Frederick an additional son who gets the Kingdom of Arles when his brother briefly becomes Emperor
[4] better marriages for the Dauphin of Vienne gains the Franche-Comte and Savoy
[5] No Habsburg Austria. Take that Rudolf!

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follow_by_white_rabbit

Helvetic Republic - Republique Helvetique

Republique Helvetique (2nd Republic)

The Republic of Helvetia or Helvetia is a landlocked state in Europe, which neighbours Alsace-Lorraine Confederation , France, Italy, Austria, Lichtenstein and Germany. Helvetia is most famous for its Helvetian Army Tin-Opening Device, a wildly popular line of gadget-laden pocket knives instantly recognisable the world around as a handy and quality tool. Helvetia is most infamous for its cuisine. It seems to consist largely of mushy pickled vegetables. It is said, somewhat tongue in cheek, that Helevtian food pairs well with Alsace-Lorraine wine.

The end of the eighteenth century saw an upsurge in Helvetian national feeling, coupled with resentment towards the Austrian opressor. In 1795 the citizens of the city of Fribourg rebelled, killed the Count of Sären whose seat was at Ciuzatz da Pfäich and declared the county to be a republic. They invited Napoleon to "liberate" the rest of Helvetia, and so in 1798 Napoleon marched in almost unopposed. On the 23rd of August 1798 the Helvetian Republic was declared, the first time there had been an fully independent Helvetian state in over five centuries. Austria reacted to this seizure of her western Territory with indifference, as they were distracted by Hungary dissidents and dynastic squabbles. There were some movements in the family to regain the old family seat, but they amounted to very little.

Unfortunately the First Republic was extremely short-lived, and in 1803 a coup by disaffected nobles regained control of the country, and Karl Josif, Duke of Stantz en Silb, leader of the aristocratic party claimed first the title of Grand Duke (1804) and then "King of Helvetia" (1808).

Karl Josif and his sucessor, Zächetz IV, ruled absolutely, with no popular representation at all. This caused unrest among the rising middle classes, especially among the urban elite in the south-west, whose nobility had largely fled before Napoleon. This agitation for some measure of democracy led to the Civil War of 1845-47, which ended with the king compromising and establishing the Republic in 1848.

Since that time Helvetic Republic (except short lived Helvetic Soviet Republic period) is know to be an oasis of pace among struggle by wars European nationalist states.

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