Flags of E Pluribus Unum

Well I'm back with another flag haul.  This is another project I did in collaboration with Lynn Davis.  You may have heard that Lynn and I have had a bit of a falling out and...well, it's true.  To be perfectly honest it was only a matter of time before this happened.  Lynn has some strong opinions, and she doesn't take kindly to those who disagree with her.  Well, that's the Tumbler set for ya.  I could have kept quiet, but I figured if Lynn was really my friend she wouldn't break off out friendship over a disagreement of opinion...apparently not.

But you didn't come here to talk about my personal life, you came for the flags.  These flags come from a world where the American Revolution was peacefully avoided, and Britain's former American colonies were organized into a European Union-esque organization.  These flags were a spin-off from Lynn's previous map Excelsior.  Let's meet them, shall we?

Here we have the flag of New York.  It's orange, white and blue to reflect New York's Dutch heritage and the design reference's New York's Iroquois heritage.  It comprises New York and the Ontario Peninsula.  Like most entire's on this list it's a European style liberal democracy with separation of church and state and a healthy advocacy of democracy without being too OTL French style.

Here we have the Confederated State of America, or CSA for short.  It comprises Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Delaware, northern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and some of Minnesota.  I made it look kind of like the Freedom Party flag from Timeline-191 for purposes of allohistorical irony.  

Here we've got the flag of Vermont.  It's basically the same as the northern states, but with more of a libertarian bent to its politics.  It's design is based on the historical flag of Vermont.  

Next up is the flag of Manitoba. Comprising OTL Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Yukon, Northern Territories and Nunavut. It is a very liberal and progressive democracy based on the radical democratic ideals of Thomas Spence, who founded the state. It's not very religious and believes absolutely in the ideals of democracy and the people.  It features Liberty leading the people with a sword at the ready to strike down tyrants, and the motto is emblazoned above her. 

Now on deck we have Louisiana.  It comprises the southern half of the Louisiana Purchase. It's a French Revolution style democracy due to the failure of the French Revolution leading many refugees to flee to Louisiana, which later joined the United States. It's Catholic, French speaking and kind of does its own thing compared to the other states.  Based on the historical flag of Louisiana.

Here we've got New England.  OTL New England minus Vermont. You might be wondering why New England has six stars, well it's beacuse each subdivision gets a star and there's also a star for New England as a whole. Alternatively, the stars are purely decorative (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). Anyway, New England is a social democracy in the style of Europe, but without being too French. It has separation of church and state. It is very religious without being very conservative, and religion rarely factors into its politics.

Next up is Florida.  OTL Florida plus the coastal regions of Mississippi and Alabama. Like most of the southern nations it's a conservative democracy like Poland or Italy, and usually has a lot of crazy politics and backwater bumpkins running things. Not as progressive as the other states and religion factors a lot into day-to-day operations.

Up next is Georgia.  The Xs can be interpreted as Saint Andrew's crosses, but I thought it would be funny if such a conservative nation inadvertently had a reference to hard core porn on it's flag.

Here we have Carolina.  Comprising Tennessee and the Carolinas.  The cotton bush is a reference to the state's primary economic engine.   

Next up is Canada.  Comprising OTL Quebec, Ontario minus the peninsula, Prince Edward Island and Larbador.

And here's the flag of Maryland.  I thought he knight was a night touch. 

Say hello to Oregon. Comprising OTL Oregon, Washington State, British Columbia and Idaho.  The killer whales reflect the region's native heritage and the wave symbolize the importance of the sea to the people of Oregon.

Here we have the flag of Alabama (Alabama and Mississippi minus their coastal regions). It's the only majority black state of the United States and as such is a Switzerland style direct democracy with emphasis on everyone being represented. It's very religious, but religion doesn't really factor into politics. There's also strong feelings of Pan-Africanism throughout the state, and that's reflected in the flag.

 This is the flag of Acadia, comprising OTL Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.  Yeah, it's basically the flag of Acadia Parish, this one beat me up.  

This is the flag of Lakota.  Comprises the northern half of the Louisiana Purchase.  It’s red and has tepees to reflect the high native population.  It’s a pennant flag to mix things up. 

This one's the flag of Virginia.  Comprising Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, southern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

Finally, we have the flag of the United States as a whole.  I used purple because it's such an under-utilized color.  I went with a Romanesque/Futuristic design because it pleased me and I liked that it seemed slightly sinister, even though this isn't a dystopia.  Well, that and I'd been watching The Hunger Games movie.  

Well we've reached the end of our list.  my teamwork with Lynn is over, but at least I got some good flags to show off.  Also, if you'd like me to make some flags for you let me know and I'll see what I can do.  I can't guarantee it'll be a showstopper, but I'll certainly try my best.  No charge of course.  

Well that about does this for this flag haul.  I'll see you guys next time

Flags of The Grand War

My friend Lynn Davis has always been one of my favorite alternate history map makers.  When she said she wished she had flags I made a flag of an Islamic China based on one of her maps.  Lynn loved it and ask if I wanted to make more flags for her Grand War series.  Well, how could I say no to something like that?

So in this post I'm going to share those flags with you.  So without further ado let's get on with it.

So here's the flag of Islamic China.  It's green since that's a color you see in a lot of Islamic flags, and the star and crescent moon are included as well.  The writing is Arabic, the sacred language of Islam, and it says "Truly there is no god but Allah and Mohammad is the Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him".  The dragon adds Chinese influence, plus Lynn and I really like dragons.  Fun fact, this flag was featured in a work of art Lynn commissioned of two Chinese soldiers having sex.  You know you've hit he big times when your work is featured in a Rule 34 commission!  

Here we have the flag of Ruthenia.  Lynn wanted something that looked like the OTL flag of Ruthenia, and I figured nothing says alternate Russia quite like a bear holding an ax. 

For this one we have the Holy Germanian Empire.  Lynn wanted a red background and white cross, but that struck me as too simple.  So I added these crests to symbolize both the empire's earthly power and holy authority. 

This one is Norman France.  We've got the Norman lions along side the French fleur-de-lis to represent the mixed heritage of the nation.  Also, gotta love the red-blue contrast.

Here we have Japan.  It has black and white like the flag of the Tokugawa Shogunate, because it was opened up earlier in this world, and the imperial chrysanthemum.

This one is the flag of Anglo-Saxon Britain.  It's red, white and has a dragon.  All common Anglo-Saxon symbolism.  Plus, again, who doesn't love dragons? 

And here we have the United Kingdoms of Arcadia.  Lynn wanted something that was like a cross between the flags of America and Canada, and she like what I came up with. 

For this one it the flag of the Punjab Empire.  I wanted to do a pennant to mix things up, and I gave it orange since it's a Hindu empire and I added the pillar of Ashoka for added effect.

This one is the flag of Hispania.  It's Christian, but retains many elements of it's Moorish heritage, and the flag reflects this mixed heritage in it's symbolism. 

This is the flag of the Byzantine Empire.  Lynn wanted something like the Russian flag.  The gold is for God, the purple is for the emperor and the red is for the common people.  It's contains the imperial double headed eagle, and the Alpha and Omega symbols are to stand for the empire's strong Christian influences.   

Here we have the flag of The Caliphate.  It's a swallow tale to add variety to the fairly basic design.

Here we got the flag of Persia.  Pretty much the same as Iran's flag save for the inclusion of the Persian sun and lion.

This one is the flag of Vinland.  It follows the same pattern as all of the other Norse flags in reflecting it's Nordic heritage. 

Finally we have the flag of Korea.  I figured that as a Chinese vassal they'd get some Islamic influence as well.  We've got a flow and some phoenixes along with the phrase "God is great" in Arabic. 

Well that wraps up this flag post.  If you like Lynn's maps be sure to donate to her Patreon account.  I hope you all enjoyed getting to see these flags.  I love how they all have medieval feel to them.  Fitting, give that's when this world's history diverged from our's.  I'm actually credited as a vexillologist, someone who studies flags and banners, in Lynn's Grand War book.  Until next time everybody.     

Titanic Colony: Flags of Avalon

I always love it when I get to work with my fellow alternate historians, especially when there are flags involved in it.  So, when Zach Anderson needed a flag for the Republic of Avalon for his story Titanic Colony, I didn't just give one flag.  Instead, I made flags for Avalon as well as all of its provinces.  I've decided that I'll share them over here on my blog, but first we need a bit of background and context.

You can find Titanic Colony over on Zach's blog The Weekly Chrononaut.  Titanic Colony follows the passengers and crew of Titanic as they are transported to a world without humans by humans from the far future, and are supplied with a vault of resources.  It alternates between the first year and 300 years after the Titanic gets transported to the new world.  So, now that we've cover that, let's get on to the flags.  You'll notice that they've all got red cantons with white stars, as a reference to the White Star Line.

Here we have the flag of The Republic of Avalon.  The three strips represent the three decks of Titanic while the red canton and white star represent the White Star Line, the captain and the crew.  The stripes are blue and white to represent the waves which carried Titanic to its new world.

Here we have the flag of Titanic City. It is the capital of the Republic of Avalon, and is the first area of Avalon to have been colonized. Located where New York City is in our world. I got the inspiration for the flag based on the flag of the Star Tugs from the TV series TUGS. It looked so similar to the White Star Line Flag I figured it would be a nice little shout out, and I'd been watching TUGS when I made this. For those who don't know, TUGS was made by the people who made Thomas the Tank Engine, but is a bit more mature and slightly darker series, and obviously the main characters are all talking tugboats and other watercraft.

This one is the flag of New Eire, which as the name suggests, was settled primarily by Irish passengers and crew.  As such, I made it green and gave it a Celtic harp. 

Here we have the flag of Avalonia.  It has King Arthur on it because, hey, it is the republic of Avalon after all.  I figured Arthurian imagery would feature prominently on the flags.

This is the flag of New Cork.  The phoenix represents Avalon rising from the ashes of the old world, I figured that burgundy was a nice color to use for this one.

Here we have the flag of New Virginia. The infinity symbols represent The Eternity Project, those humans from the far future who transported Titanic to the virgin Earth and provided them with all of the supplies they'd need to survive. 

This is the flag of South Avalonia.  It has Excalibur, the sword given to King Arthur by the Lady of the Lake.  The sword he pulled out of a stone was a separate sword.  Like I said, plenty of Arthurian symbolism. 

 

This one is the flag of Columbia.  It was founded by defendants of the American passengers.  Just as people several generations take pride in their ancestors, I figured it would be the same here, and the flag reflects this pride.

The flag of Edwardia.  I went with a red, white and black scheme because I thought it looked really nice all mixed together like that.  It's named after Captain Edward J. Smith, the first High Captain of Avalon.  The crest represents industry and science, since I figured those would be emphasized.

Here we have the flag of Florida.  I figured red, yellow and blue were a good tricolor and the trident seemed like a good nautical symbol to have. 

This is the flag of Finium named for...well, we're still working on that part.  I went with a simple blue cross against a white background, because that seemed like a good simple design.

Here is the flag of Mississippia, it's a bit further from the rest of Avalon so I gave it a dragon as in "here there be dragons" plus I like dragons, so I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity. I made it purple, because purple is an underutilized color for flags.

Finally, we have the flag of Astoria. It's named after John Jacob Astor.  I figured at least one of them would feature an anchor, and Hope seemed fitting given Avalon's optimistic nature. 

Well, that's all of the flags I've got for this time.  I hope you had fun.  I collaborated with Lynn Davis in two occasions, so maybe I'll post the flags from those endeavors at some point.  And hey, who knows who else I might collaborate with in the future.  Until next time gang.