It's been a while since I posted one of my flags. Let's do something about that:
This is the flag of Buddhist Vandalia. It comes
from a world where Buddhist missionaries made their way to Europe during the
days of the Roman Empire. The Buddhist quickly won converts among the poor and
the disadvantaged, and spread throughout Rome like wildfire. Christianity
still developed, but it's growth was considerably stunted, and it remained a somewhat
minor religion. Christianity's failure to become a major religion meant that
Islam was never established.
As in our world, the Roman Empire eventually
collapsed, though the Western half managed to hold out for slightly longer.
The Western Empire split into a series of Germanic kingdoms. By
now, most of the former Roman Empire had embraced Buddhism. However, due
to Buddhism's penchant for syncretism, the people of these new kingdoms still
worshiped many of their old gods. The Eastern Empire continued on as
usual, but unlike our world, it didn't attempt to rapidly reconquer the lands
of the former Western Empire.
That brings us to Vandalia. It managed to
survive due to a combination of the Eastern Roman Empire's more prudent
approach to expansion, and the lack of any Islamic conquest. The Vandals
were able to expand into Spain, and a bit of Southern France, but North Africa
remains the heart of their territory. Over the years, it has become a
major hub of trade and commerce, and in more recent times, it has become a
leader in technological innovations. Vandalia's closest allies are the
Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italica and the Kingdom of Angleland.
Vandalia is a major destination for Buddhist pilgrims
from across the Mediterranean and beyond. The nation contains several
stupas that claim to possess several items that belong to The Buddha himself.
Due to the flexible nature of Vandalian Buddhism, temples and shrines to
gods ranging from Woden to Ba'al can also be found in Vandalia. This is
in stark contrast to Byzantine Buddhism, which is much stricter and only
focuses on the veneration of Buddha and his teachings. Thankfully, the
two nations manage to get along...for now.
Vandalia is a land where modern universities and
centers of technology exist side-by-side with centuries-old Buddhist
monasteries. It is a deeply spiritual nations where the past collides
with the present.
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